My Friend the Enemy
by Phantom Splash
Summary: Failing to escape from Amon when fleeing from Tarrlok's secret hideout, Korra is now stuck in the Equalist's high security prison with no hope for escape. To make things worse, Amon is persistent on constantly visiting her, but as the days go by, Korra begins to realize that her previous feelings of hatred have been replaced with something... different. Amorra-ish AU
1. A New Home

**AN: Hi! Sorry, I know that I have to finish those two ATLA fics, but after getting ambushed by a bunch LOK fanfic ideas, I couldn't help but start working on them as well! D: Anyway, enjoy my first LOK fanfic! ;)**

After faking being electrocuted, it was easy to take down each of the equalizes by a surprise attack. After a single burst of flame and the ground shattered from a mighty earth bending blow, the Avatar's opponents were lying on the floor, temporarily disabled. Not taking any chances in sticking around, Korra flew up the stairs and burst through the door, getting some air before landing and slightly gliding on the slick, snow covered ground. Amon, her enemy, slowly turned his head, eyes glinting murderously underneath his mask as delicate flakes of snow swiftly passed by.

Before her brain even had time to process the situation, she bent the snow around her into several large icicles and flung them at Amon. Not waiting to find out if she happened to hit him, she fled towards the woods behind her. She quickly bent the snow beneath her feet and slid down the steep slope with ease, gaining enough speed so it would be impossible for her potential captors to catch her. That is, until a stray root firmly gripped her foot and sent the Avatar tumbling down the slope, eventually sliding to a stop. The chill from the cold, wet snow quickly seeped through Korra's skin, then began to gnaw at her bones. She shivered and tried to fight drifting into unconsciousness, but the want for rest was nearly overwhelming. She was about to fade away, but the sound of feet crunching in the snow snapped her back to reality.

"N-Naga?" She managed to slur as she tried to clear her vision.

"Not quite." The haunting voice was right next to her ear. Steel-like arms gently picked her up, and the two were quickly moving back up the mountain.

"AMON!" Korra's icy blue eyes snapped open and she quickly threw a punch at his face, hitting him square in the jaw. Amon shuddered, but otherwise seemed to be unaffected by the Avatar's feeble attempt to escape his grasp. He secured her arms and maintained his steady and quick pace in the snow, acting as if nothing had ever happened. "Let me GO! NOW!" Flame erupted from her mouth, but it was as weak as her previous punch.

"Why would I do that? So you can freeze to death in this blizzard? You should be thanking me for being kind enough to save you."

"You're not here to save me. All you want to do is destroy me so all of the benders will lose hope and eventually be oppressed by monsters like you!" She spat.

"I am not oppressing anyone. The tyrannical benders need to be shown that all they have done to this world will not go unavenged." Amon replied calmly. They were back up at the clearing already. It's now or never, Korra. She reared her head, pulling snow up around Amon's legs. Before he realized what she was doing, the snow clumped together underneath Amon's feet and sent them shooting up twenty feet in the air. Korra nodded approvingly at the makeshift pillar of snow she had created, while a heavy puff of air from Amon's mask revealed his irritation. The chi blockers rushed to the snowy pillar and stared at their leader, unsure what to do.

Korra gave a satisfied smirk at the people down below, then fixed her gaze on Amon. "I'll say this one more time. Let. Me. GO!" She released a puff of flame directly at his eyes. Amon turned his head for a moment, then returned it to its original position. The expression in his eyes was not one of rage, but annoyance. He released her, and a moment after falling, the lieutenant struck her in the side with one of his Kali sticks, sending a numbing yet excruciating pain throughout the Avatar's body as electricity was pumped through every vein. By the time she hit the ground, she was unconscious.

Amon broke free from the snow surrounding his legs and landed on the ground nimbly. He brushed some snow off of his shoulder, clearly irritated with the way events had gone. "Put the Avatar in the back of the truck with the councilman. We need to imprison them before they awake."

* * *

With a groan, Korra struggled to sit up. Her body ached everywhere, and it must have been at least a couple days since she had anything to eat or drink. She shivered. The thin mattress she was on hardly separated her body from the freezing, hard floor.

"Welcome to your new home, Avatar." Korra jumped as Amon slowly walked out of the shadows. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

Without replying, she leaped to her feet and took a fighting stance, then began to throw fireballs at her enemy. Amon side-stepped each attack as he calmly walked towards Korra. He grabbed her right arm, which was currently flying towards him, pulled it behind her back as he swiftly spun behind her, then pushed her onto the cold floor. She was pinned to the ground by his foot for a moment, then released. Amon walked in front of her and took a relaxed stance with his hands behind his back, as if to say, You are at my mercy－don't try anything stupid.

Korra pushed herself back onto her feet, hot with both embarrassment and annoyance. "Why don't you just take away my bending and be done with it?"

"All I was asking was if you wanted anything to eat or drink. I assume that Tarrlok did not give you the luxury of meals while you were imprisoned by him. Are you hungry?"

Korra continued to glare at him, arms twitching as she restrained herself from trying to attack him again, but said nothing.

"My patience is growing thin. I have better things to do than get the silent treatment from one of my prisoners." Amon walked out of the cell, closed the door behind him, and left. Finally.

Korra curled up on her cot, taking in for the first time what had happened. It all had happened so quickly; one moment Tarrlok was ranting about how she had been the cause of all his problems, and the next she was trying to get away from Amon as fast as she possibly could. I wonder if the others are looking for me… I hope that Amon didn't catch them as well. Man, how do I get out of here before anything bad happens? Right now, she was too exhausted to think. I'll come up with an escape plan as soon I get a bit of sleep…

* * *

The sound of approaching footsteps jolted Korra awake. How long have I been sleeping? The indelible mask of Amon appeared in the tiny window of her cell door. He silently opened her door, placed a platter of food next to the wall, closed the door, and left.

She unsteadily stood up, then staggered to the door and peered through the window. Once sure that nobody was watching, she grabbed the platter and stumbled back to her pathetic excuse for a bed. The scent of sea prunes and five flavor soup caused her empty stomach to growl loudly. Of course he'd try to act like he's the good guy and give me nice, hot, water tribe food. There was a note attached to the platter, which piqued the Avatar's curiosity. The hand writing was extremely neat, and obviously from Amon. All it said was "I assumed that you did want something to eat, but were too proud to ask for it. My apologies if I was wrong and that the Avatar does not need such petty things like food and water."

The smugness in the note made her want to hurl, or at least throw the food out of the room to try to make a point. The steam from the soup caught her nose again, and the previous thoughts of rejecting the food were erased as she grabbed the bowl and hungrily slurped down all of food. Her stomach gurgled once again as if to tell her that she disappointingly still had plenty of room left, even after her plate was clean. Still tired, she curled up on the thin mattress and tried to get some more sleep.


	2. To Blind a Man with No Eyes

**Hi! I present to you today not one, not two, but THREE chapters today! Feel free to thank me when you review. XD (and yes, you can review without having an account, if you wish to remain… **_**Amonymous**_**.)**

…**Yup, I've definitely been reading way too many of those Bad Joke Amon memes! XD**

**To turn this A/N into a TL;DR (though it's not that long), I'd like to thank all of the people who have been nice enough to review! plus all of the faves and watches make me feel so special! ^^ Also, thanks for your critique, KK! I thought I had finished editing that chapter, but when I re-read that part, I facepalmed so hard. Anyway, I edited the snow part to make it less confusing. With the bit about having such long sentences****－****yeah, I've been trying to fix that bat habit, but it's kinda hard. *tearbends* Hopefully I'll be able to get rid of it soon! :D**

**Enjoy! (and review? :3)**

After several failed attempts to get some sleep, Korra lay on her mattress wide awake. She feared that at any moment, Amon would decide to come for her and finally do what he'd promised to do to her so long ago… Destroy her. _But I WON'T let him. Now that I'm not going to be caught by a surprise attack and have more strength, he won't be able to lay a hand on me. There's no need to fear him, taking him on will be easy as soon as I come up with a plan..._

After unsuccessfully trying to come up with a plan, she sat up and exhaled a puff of flame, warming the frigid air that nipped at her skin._ Maybe I can figure how to get into the Avatar State so I can get out of this mess I've made._ Korra positioned herself into a meditative position, trying to let her mind drift. She got brief glimpses of the flashbacks she had already seen, but nothing else. After what seemed to be hours of failed attempts, Korra sighed and stood up. "Well, that was helpful." She glared up at nothing, knowing that it wasn't any of the past Avatars' fault that she failed so much at anything spiritual, but it still felt good to at least release some of her built up anger.

Korra looked around the dimly lit cell, unsure what to do. Out of boredom, she flexed her arms, feeling the strength course through her muscles. She faced one of the cell walls and threw a punch with her firebending. The metal's hue temporarily changed to a pale red tint, then faded back to its regular dull shade of grey. Picturing Amon, the Lieutenant, and every stupid equalist standing behind them, Korra continued blasting the wall with fire, throwing punches until sweat dripped from her brow and stung her eyes, which were currently busy with releasing a steady flow of tears. She choked back a sob. If any of her enemies were outside her cell listening in, the last thing she'd want to do is show weakness.

The area she was consistently pounding with fire was now glowing with a cherry red color. The room was now baking as the wall continued to radiate heat, encouraging more sweat to form on Korra's already burning skin. _He will _NEVER_ win_. She thought to herself contemptuously. She glowered at the still intensely red circle and imagined that the mask of the man she loathed so much was in the center of it. Bending the water off of her, she slashed with all of her fury at the imagined mask. The water quickly transformed into a thick steam cloud, but not before cutting a semi-impressive gash in the wall. The steam thickened the air and reduced visibility. _If I had enough water, I could make it so someone couldn't even see six inches in front of him. Now the real question is where I could get enough water to form such a thick steam cloud. I doubt that they'd ever let enough water be around me._ She sighed with defeat and stared aimlessly at different areas of her tiny cell. As her gaze passed over the waste hole, and idea suddenly flashed through her mind. She smirked as a plan formulated in her head, knowing that it _will_ work and she _will_ escape. It would not be long before she would be free once more.

After lifting the lid on the waste hole, the immediate stench told her that there was more than enough… eurgh, _urine_ to bend. _Well, not only will Amon have to deal with being blind, he can also enjoy having to overcome the smell of burning pee. And now, it's time for the hard part- patience._ She sat on her mattress, waiting for Amon to come with her next meal, but he didn't show up. Her stomach began to growl at her constantly, angered by the lack of food. The small amount of energy she currently possessed was soon gradually dropping, making her unaware of the sleepy state she was entering. Without her consent, she was pulled into unconsciousness and slept deeply for the first time in weeks.

_"Korra… Korra… KORRA! WAKE UP! YOU FELL ASLEEP!" _The shouting from her mind seemed to vibrate throughout her skull. Korra jumped to her feet quickly enough to make her surroundings spin, causing her to lean against a wall to prevent falling over from dizziness. There was a new food tray with now cold seaweed wrapped fish bits. There was another note that once again had a writing from Amon on it. _"I noticed the decoration you decided to add to the wall. I am not that well acquainted with modern art, but I suppose it's a fairly nice piece. Perhaps you could go into the art business once you are equalized."_

Korra glared at the written mockery of her, then ignited the paper after crumpling it in her fist. She warmed her food and tea and ate only some of it, knowing that to help her maintain strength, she would have to ration her food until the next time Amon came, and then strike. She then began to blast the wall with a constant stream of firebending to heat up the metal. Within ten minutes, sweat was trickling from her skin and landing softly on the floor as she sat down to eat and drink a little more of her food, occasionally shooting a short blast of fire at the wall to maintain its nearly unbearable heat.

Surprisingly, after one to two hours of patient waiting, the familiar near-silent footsteps of Amon faintly echoed in the hallway. _Well, it's now or never._ Korra scarfed down the small remainder her food, gave the wall a final blast of fire, and opened the lid to the waste hole. She plopped onto her bed and quickly adjusted to a meditative position a moment before Amon had arrived at the cell.

He entered the cell and immediately looked at the bright red wall, stiffening as he sensed the potential trap.

"I see that you decided to continue your wall art." Amon noted cooly after taking a moment to compose himself, then set the food platter by the doorway. He stood up again and focused his attention back to the Avatar, the two eye holes in his mask staring darkly at her.

"Cut the garbage, Amon. I'm sick of your constant mockery of me." Korra scowled, but didn't open her eyes.

"Oh? You're making it sound like you deserve respect from me and all of my followers."

"There is nothing that I've done to earn the hatred that the non-benders have for me. They act as if I am one of the few benders that use their abilities for evil, when all I have done is what I can to protect them."

"Like when you stood by and _watched_ the police round up hundreds of innocent non-benders and throw them in prison to _rot_?" Venom seeped from his voice as he tensed.

"I was forced to do so! If I had tried to intervene, Tarrlok would have had me join them in prison!" Korra remained seated, trying to appear calm, but the anger and frustration she felt inwardly was leaked out through her tone of voice.

"I would expect such acts of cowardice to be committed by lesser benders, but not from the Avatar… Knowing the strength you hold, it would have not have been hard to hold off the police until all of the non-benders could escape. I would ask why you suddenly decided to hold back, but everyone knows the answer to that question." Amon leisurely walked around the cell.

Korra scowled, then released the tension in her facial muscles to return to her previous lack of expression. _Five… Four… _"If you are accusing me of favoring benders over non-benders, then you are _wrong_."

"I do not even need to accuse you. You have-" He was cut off as Korra bent a large amount of urine out of the waste hole. She blasted Amon in the face with a quarter of the urine she had pulled out, stunning him as he tried to shake off the shock and disgust of what he was now soaked in. The glowing wall was hosed with the remaining urine until there was a thick cloud of steam that made it impossible to see beyond a few inches. Accidentally breathing in a whiff with her nose, Korra nearly hurled from the revolting odor. Amon had nearly recovered, but not in time to avoid the swift kick that landed… below the belt, which caused him to double over in agonizing pain. Korra grabbed the key to her cell, unlocked it, and quickly snatched a few of the salted meat strips that was on her meal platter.

The hallway was incredibly long and had a zig-zag pattern to it, but was gradual enough to allow any person to see far ahead. There was occasionally a cell, but no other halls. Sparing a quick glance behind her shoulder, Korra was surprised to find that Amon was not pursuing her. She grinned and her stomach growled loudly, still hungry. She began to gnaw on a piece of the meat, but continued to sprint at a steady pace. _What I would give to be an airbender right now…_

After several minutes of all-out sprinting, Korra glanced behind her shoulder, but Amon was still nowhere to be seen. _Chump._ A wave of exhaustion convinced her to risk slowing to a jog. Lightheadedness slowly crept over her, encouraging her to eat some more of the meat strips to prevent falling over with fatigue. The cell door that was about a hundred yards in front of her swiftly flew open, catching her by surprise. By the time she had skid to a stop, Amon and two equalists ran into the hall and straight towards her. _These aren't doors to prison cells… they must lead to secret passageways._

Another boost of adrenaline quickly pumped through her veins as she spun around and sprinted in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by the five equalists running towards her further down the hall. Instinctively, Korra bent a thick wall of fire around her before any of the equalists had reached her. The amount of energy it took to create something as simple as a wall of fire told Korra that she only had minutes－if not seconds－before her bending quit on her. _Come on… what do I do?_

Carrying the wall with her, she ran towards the ajar door that the five equalists had come out of, hoping that none of them were daring enough to run through the fire. They weren't. She hurried into the room just as the wall of fire began to flicker out. She spared a moment to ignite the door frame, and her source for bending was all tapped out.

The room she was in now was a dimly lit large dome with many stories of tunnel entrances. _Good. Now Amon can have a fun time in trying to figure out which tunnel I ran into._

"Why didn't you attack her instead of running away like cowards? Were you _afraid_ that the Avatar might make your clothes a little crispy?" The furious voice of Amon sounded from behind the curtain of fire. Korra, shocked by how he was already so close, sprinted to the hallway that was third closest to her right.

This tunnel was darker than the previous room and the floor turned from dirt back into metal, which would reveal her position if she dared made any movements louder than a slow walk. _Just my luck._ An air shaft opening located high up on the left wall caught her eye. She slowly and silently removed the grate, since Amon had finished chewing out his equalists and now had entered the room, looking and listening for any signs of where the Avatar went.

"There." A hard lump formed in Korra's throat, but she continued to release the grate.

"I mean no disrespect sir, but how are you sure?" The voice was closer than Amon's had been, revealing that they were running towards the tunnel she was in. Thankfully, she finally had released the grate and managed to climb into the air shaft and silently pull the grate back into place.

"These tracks are fresh and they match her shoe size and tread perfectly. Also, this tunnel leads to the diver training room. The scent of salt water would appeal to someone who is a waterbender." Amon finished when they arrived at the tunnel entrance, just moments after Korra had closed the grate. The seconds of uneasy silence seemed to be hours. The chorus of footsteps quietly echoed in the hallway as they slowly neared Korra's hiding spot, then suddenly stopped when they were still in her blind spot. Dread crawled in her skin. _Did they notice m-_ Korra's lips tore open to release a silent scream as electricity coursed through her body. The blue lightning that crackled around her soon faded to black as she slid into unconsciousness.

The equalist lowered his glove, and Amon roughly opened the grate and pulled the Avatar out by her limp arm. He slung her over his shoulder and closed the grate. "Is the bottom level cell ready yet?"

"I received word from the mechanics that it is finished and the elevator shaft is fully functional, sir."

"And the outcome of the earthbending tests?"

"Not even someone as skilled as Lin Bei Fong could detect the cell or be able to manipulate the materials surrounding it."

"Good," Amon stretched out his hand, and the equalist placed a set of keys in it. "I doubt the Avatar will be giving us any more trouble. You all are dismissed.


	3. Not the Jesting Type

**Sorry for that technical difficulty! ^^; I accidentally mislabeled one of the documents, so that's why there was chapter two twice! Sorry about that, here's the actual chapter three! (wow, that was embarrassing XD)**

The past few days since the failed escape attempt had been rough. A meal of moldy bread and bitter water was given only once per day, and the equalists who served it intended on letting her know that Amon was thoroughly displeased. There were several bruises of various dark shades on her ribs from the times she was kicked repeatedly in the side, and fresh scars on her back from when another equalist whipped her. Even with her healing abilities, the sores were still very tender.

The room was nearly impossible to escape. Not only was there an exceptionally thick door on her cell, but outside of it was a long elevator shaft that spanned hundreds of feet in both directions. There was no way she could climb the thick cord that the elevator was attached to, since it was over thirty feet away from her cell. Hijacking the elevator was also out of the question. Not only did the key needed for it to work have to be turned to a certain degree, but there was also a passcode that was required.

The loud clanking that signaled the elevator was descending snapped Korra back to the present. She braced herself for another angry equalist to come out of the elevator and start attacking her. Today she would be too weak to even put up a decent fight. Instead, she was surprised to see the pale mask of Amon glow in the dim light from outside her cell. He silently opened the door, placed the platter of stale bread and bitter water on the ground, and shut the door behind him.

"Your conduct three days ago is not appreciated. You shouldn't expect any treatment other than the discipline you deserve." Amon's voice was no longer filled with rage, which was a good sign… Sort of.

"Oh, get over yourself." Korra's hostile response took Amon by surprise, but he hid it quickly. "Where I hit you was more than fair retribution for all that you have done to me and my friends."

"In case you have forgotten, I have never done anything to you that you didn't ask for. Even then, I was much kinder than I should have been.

"You invaded my rally and attacked many of my followers, but I allowed you to escape even though there were dozens of equalists prepared to chase after you. You challenged me to a duel, I set you free even though I could have easily bested you even without the help of my chi-blockers. You convinced the council to allow the pro-bending championship to continue, albeit my warnings to not to; I had Mr. Sato pay off the referee so your team wasn't equalized _and_ I only had you be electrocuted instead of captured."

"If you're expecting to get a thank you from me, you'll be waiting a long time." Korra scowled darkly at him, but was shocked when Amon sat down on the floor.

"That is fine, my schedule for today is clear."

"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered more to herself than to Amon.

"I am not the jesting type, Avatar."

"Well I was joking about having to wait for me to say thanks, because I never will!"

"I highly doubt that. After being in a small cell with your _nemesis_ for a few hours, your previous thoughts will begin to change."

"So my punishment is being stuck in a cell with a creep like you staring at me the whole time? I'm terrified."

"I won't be surprised if you actually will be; I have the gift to frighten even my most loyal supporters when I'm around them for an extended period of time."

"It's so hard to wonder why." Korra grumbled and lay down on her cot. Secretly, she was shaking from the thought of being stuck with Amon in a cell so far away from anything. She didn't dare show that she was afraid of being completely at his mercy－there's no doubt that he would instantly take advantage of her weakness. "Wake me up if anything interesting happens, such as you _leaving_." She closed her eyes, trying to hard to ignore the steady breathing coming from Amon.

After a few minutes, the cell seemed to grow colder. _Perhaps he left._ Daring to open one of her eyes, she noticed that Amon was sitting in the exact same position he was in when she closed them.

"Yes, I'm still here."

Korra rolled her eyes with irritation. After a shiver that was carried throughout her entire body, she sat up and blew a breath of fire onto the floor in front of her cot, warming up the cell. She smirked at Amon, then said with false remorse, "Oh, sorry, I hope you don't mind my evil bending that was used to bully you by making this room warmer."

"I would prefer it if you didn't bend in my presence."

"And I would prefer it if you just left me alone, or better yet, stopped terrorizing all of the benders." Korra breathed some more fire onto the floor, raising the temperature so it was almost hot in the room.

"I don't see why you are persistent on condemning me for stopping bullies who use their bending to take advantage of people who aren't as lucky as them."

"You tried to equalize my friend at the revelation. He is sweet, funny, considerate, and _definitely_ not the bully you accuse him to be. In fact, he and his brother had a rough life that supposedly only non-benders have to deal with. Their parents were _killed _by a firebender when they were just little kids!"

"You don't need to tell me the story of Mako and Bolin; I already know it from when it was told when they first became famous. Also, if your friend isn't a bully, then why was he found with the Triple Threats, preparing for a turf war that would harm many people who got in the way?"

"We didn't have the money needed for entering the tournament. He never told us what he was going to do, but I guess he was desperate to get enough money so we could be in the tournament."

"So, because of a _game_ that revolves around _hurting_ others with _bending_, Bolin was willing to help a gang harm many people."

Korra looked in another direction and said nothing, clearly irritated with how the conversation was going. She clenched her fist, trying hard to fight the urge to blast Amon with a fireball. Amon's gaze focused onto her fist, eyes narrowing.

"Is this how all conversations with your adversaries go? You debating whether or not you should roughen up your foe with a little bending? You had ought to change your frame of mind soon, otherwise you'll be completely helpless once your bending is removed and you are no longer _worshipped_ by everyone."

"You will _never_ take my bending away!" Korra spat, fire erupting from her fist as her anger boiled over.

Amon stood up and ominously walked towards Korra. Her eyes widened when she realized what he was about to do. She barely managed to kick aside the hand that was darting towards her neck, then rolled to the side and jumped to her feet, using firebending to slash at Amon while she was up in the air. He quickly swept aside the fire with one of his bracers and leaped at the Avatar, but was blocked again when her fist punched his outstreched arm aside. Landing only a few feet away, she was forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Amon easily overpowered her within seconds and jabbed at several pressure points, forcing Korra to collapse onto her knees. His hand reached down and grabbed her neck, causing the Avatar to gasp with horror and struggle even harder to regain control over her limp limbs. His second hand touched her forehead, but instead of him removing her bending, the hand slowly slid down to her chin and firmly to hold of it as he raised her head.

"As you can see, I could easily remove your bending right now, but I won't. It isn't the proper time." Amon released his grip, allowing Korra to drop to the floor. Her cheeks flushed with humiliation of how helpless she was in front of her enemy.

"And can I ask when you will, or is that classified?"

"Since you will be in this cell until you are equalized, I do not see why that information should be withheld. There will be a rally as soon as Republic City is under complete equalist control. You will be the finale, a symbol that there is no hope for the rest of the benders in the world if they dare oppose us."

"I'm the _finale_? What's going to happen before that?"

Amon walked towards the door.

"Amon, what's going to happen?" Amon ignored her as he closed and locked the cell door.

"Amon?" She had regained her ability to move, so she ran over to the door just as Amon had turned on the elevator and began to ascend.

"_AMON!"_ She blasted the elevator with a fireball, but it had no effect.


	4. I Refuse to Believe

The next week consisted of a monotonous routine of Amon coming three times a day with her meal (thankfully, the days of disgusting bread and water were over and the tasty Water Tribe grub returned), saying nothing despite Korra's consistent pestering on what he was going to do at the big rally. In between those times, Korra would work out, doing various exercises that helped maintain her impressive muscle tone. Occasionally, she would work on different bending forms, but spent more time working on her hand-to-hand combat, knowing it would be needed if she ever got the chance to face off against Amon and stop him.

Her dreams were usually quiet and peaceful, filled with memories of penguin sledding; bending with her friends from the Southern Water Tribe; and Katara telling her stories of the grand adventures Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko, Councilman Sokka, Chief Toph Bei Fong, and she had. Some days, she would wake up so homesick that she wished the nightmares filled with Amon hurting her and her friends would return. The authentic Water Tribe food should have helped, but it only made her ache even more with the want for returning home. That night, however, brought a dream that was entirely new.

_The air was numbingly cold, freezing the moisture in her nose instantly. Each breath she took with her mouth seemed to bite at her throat before being warmed enough to enter her lungs. The full moon shone on the flat landscape, the snow reflecting its light brightly. At first, Korra thought she was in another memory, but the landscape and constellations were alien to her. Smoke from a fire drifted in air to her right. Hesitantly, she walked over to the area it was coming from._

_The snow didn't crunch under her feet, which was surprising. Looking down, she noticed that she had no feet… or any of her body parts._ "What's going on?" _Her voice drifted out quietly through the frigid air, quickly absorbed by the untouched snow below. She continued to move towards the fire, then stopped as soon as she reached a drop off and peered over the edge._

_There was a muscular man with two small boys huddled around the blazing fire. She had obviously just missed something important, because the two were staring at the man in shock. He left them where they were, saying that he was going to get some more wood for the fire. As soon as he was out of hearing range, the younger one spoke up._

_"So… If we're bloodbenders, what do you think he wants us to do?" His small voice contained fear._

_"Destroy the Avatar, of course." The older replied bluntly. He stared into the fire, brows furrowed._

_"Noatok…" The younger one's mouth was agape. _

_"Well, you heard him, Tarrlok. He's furious that his bending was removed and wants nothing but revenge." Korra's eyes widened, realizing that the younger boy was councilman Tarrlok and the older man that had left was Yakone. She had never heard of his older brother before, but there was something about him that was strangely familiar._

_"I could never hurt the Avatar! Without the Avatar, everything would fall out of balance and the world will be filled with evil! Without the Avatar, true justice would disappear." Korra snorted and muttered something about wanting to see that in writing, but continued to listen in on the conversation. Noatok didn't acknowledge Tarrlok's statement, so the younger boy turned to him and asked,_

_"You agree with me, don't you?"_

_After a pause, Noatok replied. "I don't know what to agree with right now, Tarrlok. It can't hurt to at least learn bloodbending from Dad first. It may be useful later on."_

_"But, it's illegal! Plus, why would you want to physically control anyone, like some puppetmaster? It must be a horrible feeling to be possessed like that!"_

_Noatok looked at his brother and smiled. "Then it's a good thing we'll be the ones doing the bloodbending." After Tarrlok continued to look at him with a distraught expression, he added, "Come on Tarrlok, everything will be just fine, I promise." Tarrlok wrapped his arms around his brother, and after a moment, Noatok hugged him back._

_Caught up in the moment, Korra didn't notice her body had returned and her hand was applying pressure on a loose chunk of snow. It quickly broke off, tumbling down the cliffside and alerting the two boys. Noatok swiftly stood up._

_"WHO'S THERE?" He shouted. After no answer, he bent the snow and had it swiftly fly up at Korra, sending her back hundreds of feet. She flew through the air for what seemed to be an eternity, dreading the moment she would hit the ground._

The impact never came. Korra sat up swiftly, gasping for oxygen. After her eyes adjusted to the light in her cell, she wiped the sweat off of her brow.

"Nightmare?" The deep voice of Amon caused Korra's heart to momentarily forget how to beat.

"No. Just a... strange dream."

"Ah, one of _those_." Korra's eyes widened, unsure if he was implying something dirty or not.

"I don't mean it that way!" She snapped, heat beginning to radiate from her skin.

"Of course, my apologies." She couldn't sworn there was a smirk under the mask.

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"You speak as if you're expecting me to spew out 'equalist propaganda' to you."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

"Please. I know that anything I say would be words wasted on you."

"Well, that's something we can agree on, since I will never be converted to your radical terrorism."

Amon snorted. "This is coming from a person who supports people who rounded up thousands of innocent non-benders and threw them into prison."

"I do _not_ support Tarrlok's actions _at all_! If I did, I wouldn't even be here right now!"

"But it was his police force that rounded them up. You are good friends with the _chief_ of police, are you not?"

"I am friends with the _former_ chief of police. If Lin Bei Fong didn't resign thanks to _your_ henchmen capturing some of her officers, none of that would have happened, and once again, I wouldn't be stuck in this cell!"

"Am I supposed to be nice instead and not act like I'm your foe? Yes, I admit that it was deceitful and unsporting to trick your group into walking into that trap, but you shouldn't expect me to be as naive as you are when it comes to battle plans."

"Where I come from, it is considered honorable to challenge an enemy to an honest duel instead of using trickery and foul play to try to bring him down."

"In case you haven't noticed, we're not in the South Pole, and this isn't just a simple duel between two enemies. If my opponent always fails at planning ahead and cannot unite under one banner, why should I be as clumsy as they are and drag out this war for longer than necessary?"

"That is no excuse for all of your trickery and lies."

"And what do you think I should do, Avatar? Use the radio to tell those who oppose me to meet me on Aang Memorial Island at midnight so we can _cut to the chase_?" Amon sneered.

"No, I'd rather you'd go take a rope, tie one end around your neck, the other around a pole on the courthouse roof, and do us all a favor and jump off the edge!"

Amon chuckled, which took Korra completely by surprise. "You have a great amount of nerve, trying to offend someone who has power over your fate."

"Some power. You're too scared to do something as simple as take my bending away. Are you afraid I might enter the Avatar State and beat the snot out of you?"

"All of your attempts to spite me into attacking you will be futile, Avatar. Also, since I will not bring any harm to you, the least you could do in return is be courteous enough to be at least _somewhat _polite."

"I'll keep that in mind, along with how you want to take away everything I stand for. Now could you kindly _buzz off? _It's past time for me to practice some bending, and something tells me that you aren't that big of a fan of it." Korra stood up and started with some waterbending moves, using imaginary water, then switched to firebending and began to blast the wall Amon was standing in front of, purposely hitting a spot only a foot away from his shoulder.

"I don't understand _why_ you insist on practicing your bending constantly. It will be gone soon."

"No matter how many times you keep on telling me that, I will refuse to believe you, Amon."


	5. A Journey to the Past

**Hey! So while reading this chapter, you may think to yourself, "Where the heck is this going?" (Because that's what I thought when I first got this idea while plotting out the story XD) So all I can say in reply is that you'll see eventually! ;D **

**Also, Thanks so much for all of your reviews, favorites, and alerts! It's only been a little over a week since this story was published, and it's already more popular than any of my other fics! (I feel so special! ^^)  
**

**Enjoy! (and review, too :3)  
**

Amon had finally left, so Korra was busy enjoying the meal he had left for her. Of all the past water tribe meals, this smoked octosquid definitely was one of the most delicious, and not to mention very authentic. _Who knew that Amon was a Water Tribe food connoisseur._ After contently sucking the last juices from it off of her fingers, she decided once again to try to meditate. _Ok, Aang, can you __**please**__ help me? _She shut her eyes and let her mind drift. Before she knew it, she was back up in the North Pole.

It was high noon, forcing her to squint due to the intense brightness of the sun combined with the glare from almost completely white landscape. The soft vapor clouds told her that her body was there this time, instead of being a partial spirit like in her dream.

About a hundred yards away, she saw Tarrlok, Noatok, and Yakone. The boys were older than they had been the last time, and the younger one, Tarrlok, was attempting to bloodbend four wolves into submission.

"TARRLOK! If you don't bloodbend those wolves, then you can be their lunch instead!" Yakone roared. Tarrlok, already nervous about being able to control only two wolves at a time, began to silently cry. Yakone became more furious in reply. "IF YOU DON'T STOP YOUR CONSTANT BAWLING, I'M GOING TO SLAP THOSE TEARS RIGHT OFF OF YOUR FACE!"

Tarrlok jumped, accidentally releasing all of the wolves. They all sprinted towards him, snarling as they continually broke free of the frightened boy's bloodbending grip. They all leaped towards him, about to strike. Tarrlok curled up, trying to shield him from the expected blow, but nothing came.

Noatok stepped out from behind the rock he and his father were watching from, his grip steadily holding all of the wolves in mid air. The wolves then flew backwards ten feet, eager to run away. Two of them momentarily turned around to growl a warning, but Noatok glared at them and used telepathic bloodbending to simultaneously snap their necks. The wolves gave a quick squeal, then crumpled.

"That's how you're _supposed_ to bloodbend. If it weren't for your brother being kind enough to save your sorry ass, you would be nothing but a pile of meat and bones being chewed on right now. Let's go home. There's plenty of meat to take back now."

Korra, realizing that she was out in plain sight, quickly fled to a cluster of trees, taking cover in one of the tree wells. Yakone and Tarrlok were busy with gutting the wolves, so the only who had noticed was Noatok. He cautious walked towards the trees, making her forget how to breathe. _Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh cr-SHIT!_

All of the Avatar's control over her body suddenly left her as she started to rise up out of the trees. She bit her lip to avoid screaming, not wanting to alert Yakone. Noatok dropped her onto the ground in front of him, still maintaining his bloodbending grip.

"Who are you, and why are you spying on us?" Korra looked down at the ground, willing herself to wake up from this. _Aang, I've seen enough! It'd be really helpful if I got out of this right now, before he snaps my neck and __**kills**__ me!_ His grip on her tightened, causing her to groan with agony. "Answer me!"

"I… I'm the Avatar." She managed to grunt.

"Do you expect me to be stupid enough to believe that? The current Avatar is Aang, and you look nothing like him. From what I'm told, he's not a water tribe_ girl_.**"**

"I'm… the Avatar… after him."

"Really?" Noatok snorted. "If you think you're the Avatar, then how about you bend some elements, and fast, before I treat you like I would with any other spy." He released her, then folded his arms.

"Alright." She stood up and used bending to knock the snow off of one of the trees, lit one of its lower branches on fire, and sliced it off of the trunk with a shard of rock. "Still don't believe me?" She folded her arms smugly, smirking at Noatok as he stared wide-eyed at what had just occurred.

"N-no... I believe you. What do you want?"

"Well, a way out of this dream would be nice."

"What are you talking about? This is the real world."

"If you haven't guessed, I'm from the future, since Aang is still alive. I'm stuck in a prison cell that this anti-bending terrorist Amon put me in. I was meditating, hoping for Aang to tell me how to get out of this mess, but I wound up here instead and can't get out."

Noatok looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then answered, "Alright, you can follow my family back to the village, but _keep your distance_. I have an idea for getting you back to where you're from, but if my father found out that you are here, he'd want me to kill you… or at least keep you as prisoner. He has this… strange obsession with wanting to destroy the Avatar."

"Must run in the family…" Korra muttered under her breath.

"What?" Noatok frowned.

"Nothing. It's just something that happens in the future."

"Whatever. We'll be leaving in a few minutes, so follow us until you reach the outskirts of the village. Then try to find something to wear over those… clothes. You'll stick out like a sore thumb otherwise." He left her and went over to help finish gutting the wolves.

"Noatok! Where were you?" Yakone growled.

"I thought I heard something in that group of trees. I checked it out, but there was nothing there. I guess the wind just tricked me."

"Alright. Help us load this stuff into the sled so we can head back home."

The two kids grabbed one of the sleds and started to trudge after their father. After waiting for a few minutes to pass, Korra bent herself out of the tree well she was hiding in. She walked in the direction of the three specks on the horizon, taking Noatok's advice in keeping her distance from his group. Yakone seemed like a "nasty dude" (as Bolin would say), and it would be better off if he never knew that she existed.

The heat from the sun seemed to have no effect on the frigid air. After walking for about two miles, Korra began to sweat profusely under her thick jacket, but as soon as she took it off and continued to walk in her tank top, the cold air began to freeze the beads of sweat on her skin. She bent the slush off of her skin with disgust, but put her jacket back on. _At least it seemed to get __**somewhat**__ warm in the South._

They were at the village now. It was very small, so it would be hard to snatch a jacket without being noticed. There was a sole house far on the outskirts, so Korra stopped there while Yakone and his boys continued on.

There was no smoke in the chimney, signaling that the house woul probably be vacant. After peering through a window, her assumption was confirmed. She checked the doorknob to see if it was locked. Thankfully, it wasn't. After cautiously opening the door, she slinked through the house until she reached a dresser. After gradually tugging open one of the drawers, she pulled out a dress-like overcoat. _I wish there was a way I could pay them back…_ She pulled off the jacket she was wearing, folded it neatly, and placed it where the other overcoat was laying. _It might not go down to your calves, but it's still warm._

She quickly pulled the coat over her head and let it slide down her body. It was a little bit too baggy, but it was better than it being too small. She quickly ran out of the house and shut the door, then ran until she was far away from the house. _Hopefully nobody noticed me failing at trying to be sneaky._ Stealth was never a thing Korra had cared much about. She figured that if she had the ability to bend all of the elements and access the avatar state, why bother trying to tip-toe around when she could just confront an enemy and beat the crap out of him? _Of course, if I had learned how to use stealth, it might be Amon who'd be stuck in a prison cell instead of me._

After trying to appear inconspicuous while searching for Noatok's home, Korra had almost given up hope when the ponytail almost identical to hers caught her eye. He was leaning against the wall of what must have been his house, scowling at nothing in particular.

"So, is this better?" His head snapped to where she was standing.

"You look a little weird with how baggy it is on you, but I guess it's better than dressing up like you're a guy."

"Well where I'm from, it's just fine for girls to wear pants."

Noatok rolled his eyes. "I case you haven't _noticed_, this isn't where you're from." He made a hand motion for her to follow him, then started to walk to the other side of the house. A ways away, there was a stable.

"I assume that I'll be spending the night in _there_."

"Hey, you suddenly popped into my life and are demanding that I make a lot of sacrifices to make sure you get back home safely! You should be thankful that I'm doing all of this for you instead of telling my dad that the person he wants to hunt down just fell in front of my feet!" He snapped. After sighing and rubbing his temples for a moment, he seemed to calm down, then added. "Now do you want to sleep in there, or would you rather spend the night with the wolves?"

Korra walked into the stable and eyed the feed that to animals were munching on. "I suppose I get to have whatever they have for dinner."

"_No_, you get to go hungry tonight. I guess I didn't receive the memo that every day is _worship_ your extremely ungrateful Avatar day." He growled.

"I'm sorry, I'm just as frustrated as you are about this whole thing. I asked Aang to help me figure out a way to escape being destroyed by Amon, and he sends me not only to the North Pole, but almost thirty years back in time! I'm confused, and having an empty belly isn't helping. I didn't mean to come off as rude."

Noatok raised a brow, then his eyes softened as he released his scowl. Her opened his mouth, but quickly shut it and resumed his previous glare. "Whatever. I'll probably be able to sneak some food out later tonight or early tomorrow morning. If I don't come out before half an hour past sunrise, go to the ridge about a mile to the west and wait for me there."

"Thanks, Noatok." Noatok turned around and left, ignoring Korra's gratitiude


	6. Unexpected Delays

**Hi! Sorry for the wait! This chapter is really long, though, so that makes up for it! ;) Yes, you may be wondering what the heck is happening/ why is this relevant, but you'll see eventually! :D Thanks for all of the feedback, it's super awesome! :3**

The wooden stable door creaked as it slowly opened, then clamped shut. The Avatar, fast asleep on a pile of hay, groaned and adjusted her current fetal position. "Korra, wake up." Noatak hissed. Korra grumbled in reply, but resumed sleeping. Noatak sighed, then eyed the water trough. After bending about a gallon out of it, he blasted her face with the dirty water.

" $*!%!" Korra jolted upwards, instinctively bending the water off of her and slashing at the unknown figure in front of her, catching him off guard. She bent more water out of the trough and took an offensive stance. Her eyes finally cleared before she prepared to strike at the person once again, but halted when she realized who was standing in front of her. _"What in Koh's name do you think you're doing!"_

"I could ask you the same thing!" Noatak growled with disgust as he bent the dirty trough water off of him.

"Don't act shocked that I did that. _You attacked me._ What did you expect me reaction to be? A big smile as I thanked you for _blasting my face with water_?"

"What? I was waking you up, not attacking you!"

"Since when do people wake others up by trying to drown them? You attacked me, so of course I quickly countered! What else would you expect?"

"I did not attack you! If I had meant to do that, you'd be defeated right now."

Korra scoffed. "You're so full of it. I doubt you could best the Avatar within _seconds_."

Noatak shrugged. "Well, the Avatar mainly consists of water, just like any other creature. Anyway, I came here to tell you what's going to happen, not to argue about a small splash in the face."

"Fine," Korra huffed "what's the plan?"

"I'm going to take you to the Spirit Oasis in the main village, where it'll be likely that you'll be able to find a way back to where you're from. There's a small problem though…" Noatak sighed "The only way I could go is if I acted like I were going on a shopping trip for supplies that can't be bought in this village."

"How's that a bad thing?"

"My dad is making Tarrlok go along me. If it were just you and I, we could have made the journey there within a day. Now it will take more than that because my little brother's coming along. Also, since he's not that great at keeping his mouth shut, you're going to have to wait for us on behind the ridge of that one hill out past the east side of town. We'll meet you there in about an hour." Noatak slid out of the stable and closed the door behind him.

For the first time, Korra noticed the large plate of dried seaweed and smoked octosquid. _Ok… That is a really strange coincidence._ _Not that I have any complaints with eating octosquid two days in a row, though._ After gorging herself on the food, Korra exited the stable as quietly as possible, hoping that no one would notice her. Unfortunately, Yakone had just left his house. His head snapped over to the creaking stable door and his eyes narrowed as his glare temporarily froze Korra in mid-step.

"HEY, YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He roared with fury. Finally breaking free of his cold gaze, Korra bent an ice board beneath her feet and sped away with aid of bending the snow under her.

"NOATAK! GET OUT HERE!" _Damn… Just my luck._ Korra tried to go faster, hoping that she would be out of range or that Noatak would be nice enough to let her escape. Knowing that it would be foolish to hope for either one, Korra searched in vain for something to give her cover. It would be impossible to hide before Noatak came outside.

There was a sudden spike of pressure in her body, making the Avatar gasp in pain as she continued to glide through the snow. _So after all that effort to help me, Noatak decides to reel me in like a fish so his father can torture me._ The grip on her was suddenly released, which was a surprise. As she began to rebuild her momentum, Korra glanced behind her shoulder to see Yakone chastising his son, clearly infuriated that she had escaped. Noatak replied with something, then was promptly struck across the face. He temporarily lost his balance and staggered backwards. Korra cringed, but continued to speed away from the village until it was far on the horizon. She stopped and disintegrated her board, then turned to face her tracks.

_I had better cover them up in case Yakone tries to track me._ Taking a firm hold of the snow that was hundreds of feet to the right of her thin board trail, she swept a thin layer of powder all the way to the far left of her tracks, creating a perfectly flat ground. Although she didn't cover up all of the markings left from her board, there was a large enough distance put between her and the last trace of her board that it would be nearly impossible for Yakone to pick up her trail…Which was soon going to be underground.

She bent the snow and ice out of her planned path until she reached the solid earth, then tunneled even further down so there would be enough room for her to be completely submerged in the earth. Korra glanced up to be sure of which direction the hill was in, then leaped down the hole and closed up the snow and earth that was now above her. After promptly creating a small floating flame a few feet in front of her torso, she began to tunnel away. The earth in front of her was compacted to form smooth cave walls that barely allowed her enough room to crouch as she created about twenty feet of tunnel per minute. Compared to her swift movements on the ice board, the progress made with her tunneling was agonizingly sluggish. Slowly, her mind began to drift as she continued to repeat the same earthbending move.

_How did I get here? I asked for Aang to help me find a way out of this mess, but I was sent here instead. Is there something more that I need to know about Tarrlok? Maybe it's something important about Noatak… Though I don't know why, because I've never met him before. Is it about bloodbending?_ The memory of their argument earlier flashed through her mind, causing her to shudder. _How could he suggest something as terrible as bloodbending me into submission, but be perfectly calm about it, as if it were nothing? And why would he disobey his father and let me escape? I guess I could try to ask him…_ After a moment of thinking about that, Korra stopped her earthbending and burst out with laughter, her chuckles echoing throughout the tunnel. "My mind seems to have forgotten how secretive and bitter Noatak seems to be. Just because he decided to help me out because I'm the Avatar doesn't mean that I could just strike up a conversation with him."

After the short delay, Korra silenced her thoughts and continued to tunnel through the ground. Several minutes passed by when the Avatar finally grew sick of digging through the ground like a badgermole. She blasted the earth above her, creating a narrow hole. The brilliant light shining in from above allowed Korra to extinguish her flame. She bent the snow above into a rope of water that began to snake around her body. After it had a firm grasp on her, she had it slingshot her up into the air, soon flying high above the ground. _Whoops._ Her heavy impact was eased with bending. She pushed the rocks and pile of snow back into the tunnel, not caring that it was a sloppy job and her tracks were now everywhere. She was right next to the hill and any other trace of her was over a mile away. _Now to wait for the two brothers._

She walked to the the side of the hill that was furthest from the village. There was a pile of boulders blanketed with a thick sheet of snow. She made herself comfy at the foot of the mound. Hours passed. Korra tried to entertain herself with making different elaborate sculptures in the snow, then melting them into pools that quickly turned to ice. After midday had passed, her impatience grew to the point of being almost unbearable. She stood up and began to fight imagined enemies, but the restrictions that her dress possessed soon made her stop and growl with annoyance. Although it was tempting to burn the wretched thing, the thick dress was needed for its warmth.

The hushed noise of footsteps crunching in the distance alerted Korra. _Finally, they're here. Wait! What if Yakone's with them?_ Her previous emotion of relief was quickly replaced with fear as she hurriedly looked for a way to hide. She ran to the side of the boulders that was opposite to where the footsteps were approaching. After crawling onto one of the ledges on the pile, she bent the snow around her body. The lump created by her body was barely noticeable.

The footsteps stopped at the pile. One person slowly walked around it, clearly searching for anything hiding. It took all of her strength to resist making any movement whatsoever.

"What are you doing, Noatak?" The puzzled voice of Tarrlok sounded.

"Korra! Come on out, we don't have time for this!" After there was no response, Noatak added, "Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to reveal that you're here if my dad were with us? I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble just to hand you over to him now!" After there was still silence, the weight of the snow was suddenly lifted off of her body. Looking up, she saw that the white color of the boulders had vanished, and there was a heap of snow next to them. Noatak was right in front of her, his arms folded. His brows were more furrowed than usual, and the left side of his face was puffed up from where Yakone had hit him.

"Why didn't you trust me? Do you think I would _actually_ handyou over to my dad?"

Korra heaved herself up and leaped off of the boulder, red with embarrassment. "Sorry, I was just afraid that Yako-I mean, your dad, would try to track me down."

"He _did_. That's why we're so late. He had me go with him and follow your tracks. After they had suddenly stopped, we tried to find a spot where they picked back up, but never did. My dad was a little angry, but he soon got over it. He thought that you were nothing but a peasant that was just spending the night in the stable because you had no other place to stay."

"Wasn't he suspicious of you letting me go?"

"He was irritated, in case you didn't notice." Noatak pointed at the bruised area of his face. "But he thought that it was because I felt sorry for you, so he gave me a talk about having thicker skin."

"Ummm, hello? Who is this and why was she hiding in the rock pile?" Tarrlok finally piped up.

"Well, this is…"

"I'm the Avatar." Korra smiled at the now gaping Tarrlok. _It's so weird to see a cute, small version of such a big jerk._

"_The_ Avatar? But I thought the current one was Aang!"

"Well, he still is the current Avatar. She somehow travelled back into the past and can't find a way back to where she's from."

"Yeah, I was just meditating in a prison cell, because I had been captured by this anti-bending guy. I had wanted to find a way to be able to defeat him, but I wound up here instead."

"That's strange. So are we going to the main village so she can go to the Spirit Oasis?"

"Yes, but we won't get there if we just stand around and talk the day away." Noatak grabbed a sled, while Korra helped Tarrlok pull his. After a few steps, Noatak added, "We're already extremely late as it is, since someone decided to walk out of the stable right in front of Dad."

Korra shot an incredulous look at Noatak. "You're blaming this on _me_? It's not like I could see who was by the door, since there were no windows! Maybe if you _warned_ me that your dad likes to go out on random walks, I'd have left earlier!"

Noatak opened his mouth to counter, but Tarrlok quickly stepped in between the two. "Guys, come on! It's only been a few minutes and you two have gotten ticked off at each other two times already! Why don't we try to be more polite, instead? Since she kinda is the _Avatar_."

"I don't care if she's the crowned princess. She's a human and should be treated like one, instead of being exalted by every one even if she hasn't proven herself. So far, all the _Avatar_ has done is make me put out her fires and take the heat for it. I don't know why I've even been this kind to her so far."

Korra's muscles twitched as she held back her outrage. Although she tried to keep a calm voice, it still quivered. "I have a name other than _the Avatar_."

"Well, since you've never graced me with the privilege of-"

"ENOUGH! Yes, I'm the Avatar, thanks for making that clear! Would you please just _stop_ with your constant mockery of me? While we're on this trip to the Spirit Oasis, don't treat me like I'm some great figure who needs to be given the special treatment! I'm just Korra, a girl from the Southern Water Tribe who needs to find a way back to her home so she can stop Amon and end the anti-bending revolution in Republic City!"

The boys stared at her wide-eyed. She ignored their looks and continued to trudge on through the snow.

"Umm, Korra? Who's Amon?" Tarrlok piped up after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, long story short, He's the leader of a large group of non-benders called Equalists. They hate benders and think that anything a bender does is for an evil purpose. They fight benders by blocking their chi paths and using new technology that's been invented just for them. I don't know how, but Amon has the ability to remove someone's bending _permanently._ While I was being kept hostage by, uh, _someone_, he came out of nowhere, took that guy's bending, then captured me. I've been trapped in a cell that's impossible to escape, so I tried to meditate in hopes to journey to the Spirit World and find a way to stop Amon. Instead of that, I got stuck here and saw Yakone trying to make Tarrlok bloodbend those wolves."

Tarrlok's cheeks reddened. "Heh, I think you, uh… Are kind of confused. We're not bloodbenders, and it's _crazy_ to think it's possible to be able to bloodbend during the day! Also, how could our dad be Yako-"

"Tarrlok, you can stop. She knows what we are and who our father is. We don't have to pretend." Noatak snapped at his brother, but didn't even spare a glance at him as he continued to stare into the distance, his mind preoccupied with other thoughts.

"Sorry if I hit a raw nerve…" Korra apologized as she observed Noatak quietly, noting his aggravated expression. As soon as his eyes met hers, she quickly looked away.

"No, it's fine." Tarrlok replied quickly. "It's just… For a long time, we didn't even know that our own _father_ was once Republic City's most wanted. He just told us all of the sudden, then began to teach us how to bloodbend. I would have refused, but Dad had become so intimidating once we began our waterbending training. I hate having to bloodbend so much, and not because I'm terrible at it. Whoever came up with the idea of controlling someone by bending the liquid inside them is sick and evil to the core."

"How is it worse than any other bending, though?" Noatak retorted.

"Regular bending is nothing like forcing animals and humans to do your bidding." Korra replied indignantly.

"Not really. You hurt the person as much as you would if you attacked them with other types of bending. In fact, you'd probably hurt your opponent even less with bloodbending, since it's nearly impossible to accidentally kill them. Even if you did, it would be a far shorter death than being burned alive and less painful than having your skull crushed from a rock."

"How would you know? Do you harvest test subjects and do these things to them, then ask them how each thing felt in comparison to one another?"

Noatak glowered. "You're so_ IMPOSSIBLE_!"

"And you're starting to scare me!"

"Guys, seriously! You need to stop this! At this rate, you'll be having a bending battle within an hour!"

"I'm surprised we haven't had one yet, with how irritable Noatak is." Korra muttered. A ball of snow quickly collided into the side of her face, leaving a stinging red area behind. She dropped the rope she was pulling and stared at Noatak in shock, unsure if what just happened was real. "That was really mature." She bent a circle of earth under Noatak's feet, having it rise several feet. While he was still having trouble finding his balance, she knocked him off of the pillar with a heavy sheet of ice.

Noatak landed heavily on his feet. "And foul moves like that aren't? If you bend nothing but your natural element, then I'll agree to not humiliate you by completely bloodbending you into submission."

"Guys, don-"

"Fine. Deal." Korra jumped high into the air and slashed at him with several ropes of snow still connected to to ground. Noatak bent the approaching snow so it swerved around his back, then fractioned it into dozens of compacted shards as they flew at full force towards the Avatar. She morphed the shards into a large ball of water and attempted to have it engulf at least a section of him, but to no avail. Noatak bent a wall of snow in front of him, temporarily protecting him from the blast of water. While Korra began to create large icicles and shoot them at him, Noatak dodged the attacks and was working on a complex move that was making the snow beneath them ripple. Unsure of what was about to happen, Korra stopped her attack and dropped into a defensive position, eyeing the ground nervously.

A thin layer of snow abruptly morphed into water and rose up high up above them, making a thick blanket of fog quickly form. There were footsteps close to Korra's right, then they vanished right before she managed to shoot an ice spike at it. After silently listening to her surroundings, a small crunch to the left revealed Noatak's location. Without hesitation, she sent another blast of ice towards where she heard him. However, she didn't noticed the rope of water snake around her leg beforehand. As she had moved her legs to perform that waterbending move, the rope tightened enough to cause her to lose her balance, then released her so she could tumble onto the ground.

"If that wasn't an underhanded move, I don't know what is." She muttered to herself as she got back up to her feet. Tired trying to sneak around (and failing at it), Korra bent the fog around her into a small ball of water and quickly spun in a circle to find Noatak. She saw the fist flying towards her in the nick of time and froze it with her ball of water. "I thought this was a bending battle!" She yelped as she managed to run a few feet from him before he shattered the ice that engulfed his arm.

"I thought that we should mix it up a bit." Noatak shrugged, then easily closed the distance between him and the Avatar. The two began to engage in hand-to-hand combat, ignoring Tarrlok's pleads for them to stop before one of them got hurt. It was a fairly even match, but Noatak began to get the upper hand. Korra was soon forced to be only block his constant blows. Enraged by how this fight was turning out, she jumped up into the air and bent fire rockets below her fists and feet to give her an extra boost. While high above him, she gave all she got as she rained down fire at Noatak, who was now on the defensive. As soon as she landed, she took a wide stance and began to blast him once again, only to have her attacking arm twist around her back. The other arm soon followed and her knees buckled. She dropped onto the ground heavily.

"I thought we had a deal."

"We did, until you decided to 'mix it up'." Korra hissed, struggling against her bonds.

"STOP!" Tarrlok shouted. Noatak's limbs began to twist as he was forced to drop to the ground. Korra was immediately released. She stood up and massaged one of her arms and looked up at Tarrlok, who was in a bloodbending stance. As soon there was a decent distance between her and Noatak, he was released. "Noatak, your anger is out of control! Ever since Dad made us bloodbend, you've done nothing but sulk! Why do you always jump at the chance to fight? You used to be so nice and considerate to others! What happened?" His voice cracked as two tears rolled down his cheeks and off of his chin.

"That was a long time ago. People change, Tarrlok."

"That's no excuse. Why are you always so angry about _everything_?"

"Do you want to know _why_? It's becau-" Noatak froze as he stared at something on the horizon. Tarrlok followed his vision and gaped.

Korra tensed. "…What is it?" She followed their line of vision and saw numerous strangely shaped blots on the horizion.

After an uncomfortable silence, Noatak spoke up. "Sabre-toothed Moosewolves. They're _huge_ and it's dangerous to fight just _one_ of them. They sometimes travel in packs and they attack their prey head on, unafraid if they are seen since it's nearly impossible to outrun or fight them. By the looks of it, there's over a dozen headed straight towards us.


	7. Sacrifices

**Hey guys, thanks so much for all of the awesome feedback! Sorry for the wait! Darn writer's block was being superbly cruel to me. D': **

**As always, reviews are appreciated!**

"This shouldn't be a problem, since it's two bloodbenders and the Avatar against a pack of saber-toothed moosewolves." Korra cracked her knuckles and watched the beasts approach. Their size grew larger as they closed the distance between them and what they thought to be their next meal.

"I don't think you're understanding how large and powerful they are. I can only control one, maybe two, while Noatak could overpower around four of them. That's _if_ we can devote full concentration on what we're doing. You… I don't know how well you fight, but since you can't bloodbend, it'd be risky to fight even two at a time. We're definitely outnumbered." Tarrlok responded nervously as he tensed in preparation for the imminent attack.

"We can take them on. All we need to do is separate the pack. Once they are all in smaller groups, we can easily overpower them, as long as we work as a team." Noatak spoke with an unexpected authority in his tone. Taken aback by this sudden change, Korra looked over to see his eyes fierce with determination, scrutinizing every detail that lay ahead of him. Then realization of what Noatak intended finally hit Korra. By overpower, he meant slaughter.

"Isn't it a little extreme to _kill_ them?"

"Not if they're trying to split us in half with their claws."

"I agree with Korra. We should just injure them at most, just so they'll leave us alone."

Noatak frowned at his brother, but gradually raised his brows and reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but if any of them get too close for comfort, _I won't hesitate_. And neither should you."

They waited in silence, the anxiety growing to be unbearable as seconds passed, then minutes. As they neared, Korra began to realize how large and fearsome the beasts were. Her head would barely reach the top of the smallest one's shoulder. Any one of them could easily scoop up the three up with its enormous antlers. Their parted maws revealed dozens of jagged teeth, but the ferocity of those paled in comparison to yellow fangs that curved out of the animal's mouth. One of them howled, but it quickly ended with a snarl.

"On my mark, follow my lead. Three… Two… ONE!" Noatak sent a tall, thick curved wall of ice in front of all but five of the beasts. Following his actions, Tarrlok and Korra assisted by curving the wall and adding on to the barriers by sending them even further backwards. They continued until a large oval-shaped barricade was formed, trapping the other saber-toothed moosewolves inside. By the time they had finished, the remaining beasts were less than twenty five yards away. One of them leaped at Tarrlok, closing the remaining distance with unbelievable speed. Tarrlok flinched, but quickly regained his courage as he quickly bent water out of the snow around him.

Before he could slash at the outstretched limbs, Noatak strode in front of him and raised his arms, then had his hands swiftly turn to the right. The animal to swiftly changed course and impacted on the frozen ground hundreds of feet away, creating a large crater from the force of its burly body. Korra's attention snapped back as she realized one of the remaining few was quickly bearing down on her. She discouraged its assault by sending a mighty burst of flame directly at its face. He slowed, but refused to stop. Before she could continue attacking him, Noatak copied the move he had done to save Tarrlok. The saber-toothed moosewolf was far in the distance within seconds.

"Hey! That one wad mine!" Korra shouted accusingly, her mind realizing what spewed out of her mouth moments later.

"You're welcome." Noatak rolled his eyes, but continued to take on the remaining three. Korra struck one of them with a shard of ice, causing it to divert its attention to her. Each of its blows hit nothing but air as she put her knowledge of airbending tactics to use as she quickly dodged every claw that flew at her, occasionally attacking it in return. After a few more exchanges, she delivered the final blow. The silence that took over afterwards told her that each of the fights were over.

Noatak cracked his knuckles. "So, how many should we release this time? Another five?" He grinned, his mood surprisingly lighter. The expression on his face quickly vanished when one of the saber-toothed moosewolves jumped onto the snowy barrier, then slid down the other side. Then another… And another… Soon they were all outside of their ex-cage, quickly heading straight for them.

"Or all ten of them!" Tarrlok squeaked.

"They're too close to separate. We need a new plan… fast."

Noatak seemed to ignore them as he abruptly began to run towards the beasts.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Korra sprinted after him. By the time she had caught up, the saber-toothed moosewolves circled around them, waiting for their prey to give the first strike. Their jaws were opened partly, giving off the impression that they were grinning. Hot saliva dripped of of the matted fur on their chins, melting the snow below.

"Why did you follow me? I know what I'm doing and I don't need your help!"

"That's a lie and you know it." Korra snapped. The saber-toothed moosewolf directly to Korra's right couldn't stand waiting any longer. He leaped at both of them with outstretched paws. The two mirrored each other as they ducked, the saber-toothed moosewolf passing only inches over their bodies. While making a graceful circular curve with her torso as she avoided being shredded, she gave the ground a single blow with her fist. As the attacker landed, a great pillar of earth erupted from the ice, angled slightly as it hit the beast square in the chest, causing it to hurtle far into the distance.

The remaining nine quickly converged on them. Even with constant slashes of ice, water, and fire from Korra and bloodbending attacks from Noatak, the two could tell that they were losing the fight. Since there was no time to fight one-on-one with any of the attackers, they were soon forced to use only defensive maneuvers. Even though they managed to take down three with their bending, the two were soon forced to only dodge each attack and hope the didn't get hit. Even with that strategy, one managed to surprise Noatak by hiding in his poor peripheral vision on his left side, due to the swollen eye, and finally attack while he was busy dodging another blow. Not being able to outmaneuver the outstretched paw in time, a stray claw raked his left leg, leaving behind a deep gash. Blood immediately began to trickle out.

Despite trying hard to stop his reflexes, a howl tore its way through his mouth and escaped his lips as his hand clutched his wound. An inferno of pain erupted as it felt like his own skin around the gash was going to burst into flame. One of the demons took advantage of the distraction and howled with victory, then scooped Noatak up in his jaws.

Korra stopped her current attempt to freeze three of the saber-toothed moosewolves and stared in shock as the one who was carrying Noatak bolted. "NO!" The cry rung in her ears as she bent a water whip. She tried to lasso its leg, but before the water even reached it, it halted abruptly. Its neck twisted to a sickening angle. A loud crack quickly followed, and the beast collapsed. Noatak slowly slithered out of its jaw, still clutching his wound.

"LOOK OUT!" Tarrlok shouted. Another one of the stomach-churning cracks sounded directly behind her. Quickly turning back around, she jumped at how the ebony colored snout of a saber-toothed moosewolf was only inches away. His glazed eyes were now glaring far into the distance, and no breath escaped his open jaw.

The familiar braids of the younger brother flew through the air as he tried to defend himself from the remaining four. After he dodged one that tried to trample him to death, he stopped it with his bloodbending and jumped onto its back cowboy style.

_WHAT IS HE DOING?_ She ran towards him to help. Two leaped at the one Tarrlok was riding, but with a simple bloodbending move, his saber-toothed moosewolf jerked back a moment before the other two collided, one impaling the other with his fangs. Furiously, it pulled out its teeth, now dripping with blood, and lunged at Tarrlok once again. The one he was controlling reared up and sloppily batted at the other with its claws, raking him across the face. Korra joined in and blasted the other saber-toothed moosewolf in the face with water, then froze it. He stumbled backwards, the only part of his head not engulfed by the ice was his antlers. After bending a chunk of earth off of the nearby pillar, she struck the dazed creature in the head, shattering the ice and knocking him unconscious.

Just as she finished, Tarrlok slid off of an unconscious saber-toothed moosewolf. The other one was next to it, slumped over in a similar position. Korra was about to thank him for his help when a distant groan caught her ear. _How could I forget about Noatak?_

"NOATAK!" Tarrlok sprinted towards where his brother was lying face down on the ground, nearly motionless. The snow next to his injured leg was stained red with blood. Korra followed after him, bending water out of the snow as she went. As soon as they arrived at where he was, she immediately flipped the position of Noatak's body. _Now… What was it Sifu Katara told me with deep wounds like these? Ah, right._ Memories of what needed to be done flooded her mind.

"Lift his leg so less blood will pump to it and be lost." She instructed. Tarrlok obeyed without hesitation. She bent the water so it encased the injured section of Noatak's leg, then promptly began to perform several intricate bending moves. The water glowed and hummed lightly as tissues were loosely knit together. After several anxiety-filled minutes passed, she pulled the water out and allowed it to splash on the ground nearby. "That's all I can do right now. We need some cloth to wrap around the wound and to slow blood flow to the leg."

"There's some stuff that we can use in the sleds." Tarrlok replied. After Korra bent the snow beneath Noatak into a thick sheet of ice, the two walked behind as they pushed him to the two abandoned sleds. Noatak 's eyelids parted slowly, as if he were awaking from a deep sleep. A mumble escaped his parted lips as he muttered something inaudible while staring at Korra. They had arrived at their destination, so Korra leaned down next to him to be able to hear what he was saying.

"What did you say?"

Noatak sighed with impatience, cleared his throat, then repeated himself, this time louder. "I said that I was _right_."

Korra rolled her eyes. "Would you like me to make an award for you?" She replied sarcastically.

"That'd be nice. Make sure that the medal I get is gold, though." He joked.

"I found some cloth!" Tarrlok pulled a few strips of thick blue cloth out of the sled triumphantly. He handed them to Korra, who promptly began to start working on fixing up Noatak's leg.

"So... how do we get there now?"

"We _walk_. Just like we have done before." Noatak answered.

"Would you stop being such an arrogant fool? The worst thing you could do for yourself right now is go on a long trek on that leg. I have an idea for something better." She finished tying the last bandage and Noatak slowly crawled back up to his feet, ignoring all offers for assistance.

"If it has anything to do with me lying in one of the sleds like a helpless infant while you two pull them at a snailsloth pace, you can forget about it."

Korra bent the snow below into a large version of an ice board, causing the two brothers to jump in surprise. "No, I was thinking we'd go faster than we would if we walked. Tarrlok and I would be in front, propelling that section of the ice board, while you would sit in back and propel the tail. Plus you could steer us, since you know which direction we have to head in."

Noatak smirked. "Finally starting to rely on your brain instead of just your brawn, eh?"_ He really wants to consistently burst my bubble, doesn't he?_

"Ignoring that. We should start going now, since we're so behind schedule as it is." She and Tarrlok walked up to the front of the board and rooted their feet in the ice, while Noatak strapped down the sleds, then plopped down and attached himself to the board as well. When he gave a nod to signal that he was ready, they took off. Wind roared in Korra's ears as the air bit at her eyes, soon forcing tears to spring up in her eyes that were carried away by the brisk wind blowing in her face.

Tarrlok laughed as he grinned ear to ear, clearly delighted by the fast pace they were going at. Korra smiled in return, then looked over her shoulder to see how Noatak was doing. He was smiling as well, but as soon as he noticed Korra, he shook his head and resumed his usual serious expression.

"Whoa… For a second there, I almost thought that you were enjoying yourself." Korra and Tarrlok laughed, resulting in Noatak furrowing his brows crossly.

They continued a steady speed throughout the day, stopping only once for a bathroom and food break. As soon as the sun was about to meet the horizon, they agreed to stop for the night. Noatak, who had planned out how they should set up camp (of course), assigned chores to everyone, including himself.

Naturally, since Korra was a firebender, she was on campfire duty. Since the few scraggly trees out in the Northern Water Tribe wilderness were usually soaked and terrible for burning, there was a large rawhide bag filled with wood in one of the sleds. It contained about twenty medium sized logs, enough fuel to last for hours. After she drilled a hole through the few feet of ice, she pulled some earth out of the ground and formed a dome, then placed it upside-down in the ground. After the fire was started, Tarrlok pulled out some meat and began to roast it. Noatak had finished pulling out all of the bedding and was about to bend an ice dome over them when Korra stopped him.

"Wait. Since there'll be a fire, the ice might thin. Since I'm here, I can just bend one out of earth." She pulled earth out of the ice and built a large dome over the sleeping, campfire, and sled area. A hole small enough to let smoke escape was left at the top. "There, now we don't have to worry about being attacked in the middle of the night."

Noatak glared at her, thoroughly frustrated. "We need a doorway, since not everyone here is an earthbender."

Within seconds, the earth to his right crumbled, leaving behind a space large enough to fit through comfortably.

"Great, now any predator can fit right in here and dine on us while we're sleeping."

Korra sighed, then filled the entrance with a thick sheet of ice. "Now any of us could exit if we needed to, but no creature can come in. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Noatak replied sarcastically.

Korra walked over to the fire and plopped down, now in a bad mood. She stared into the fire until the heat from the flames began to burn her eyes, forcing her to look away. As soon as Noatak limped over to join the two at the fire, Korra spoke up. "Look, I don't know what I did to anger you so badly. I really am sorry that I came along and messed up your week for you, but in case you haven't heard me say this the last few times, I'll say it again. I didn't choose to suddenly wind up in the Northern Water Tribe almost thirty years back. All I was trying to do is get some advice from Aang on how to stop Amon and his equalists. I'm very thankful that you helped me out so much instead of having me be at your father's mercy. If it's not too much, all that I ask for now is that we stop trying to provoke each other while on this journey to the Spirit Oasis."

Noatak continued to stare into the fire, not saying anything as shadows danced across his face. After a few minutes he spoke up. "I agree that it's about time we stopped getting on each other's nerves, but you need to try just as much as I will, though."

"Of course." The tension in the room suddenly eased, and Tarrlok finished staring at the two with wide eyes. Since he was completely unaware of the unspoken agitation that was going on, this conversation was a total surprise to him. After blinking back to reality, he pulled the meat out from their sizzling area on the earth next to the fire.

"Food's done." He announced. After pulling some vegetables and water skins out from the sleds, along with wooden plates, he passed around the meals. They ate in silence, then climbed into the warm, fuzzy sleeping bags. Exhausted from the busy day, Korra fell asleep before she even finished adjusting herself into a comfortable position.

_Amon was chasing after Bolin, Mako, and Asami. Even though Asami was driving her Satomobile as fast as she could, Amon was no less than a few feet away from them. Republic City seemed to be… different. The streets were abandoned, and several buildings lay in ruin._

_"FASTER!" Bolin shouted, failing at every attempt to stop Amon with his earthbending._

_"Don't you think I'm going as fast as we possible can? Mako, stop him!" Mako was gone. Amon had stretched out his arms and grabbed him, placed his thumb over his forehead, then cast the unconscious boy aside. Even after that, Amon continued to be right on the two's tail._

_"NO!" Asami shrieked. Bolin said nothing as tears steadily streamed down his face. He continued to attack Amon, but the masked man ran through every obstacle as if he were a ghost._

_"We should have listened to Tenzin. We should have fled while we had the chance!" She sobbed, not noticing the stray pile of rubble until it was too late to dodge. The car somersaulted through the air, eventually landing on its side. Amon walked casually over to the scene. Both Asami and Bolin were covered in cuts and bruises from the crash. Ignoring their pain, Amon pulled them out of their seats by their necks, then held both up in the air._

_"It was about time I stopped you nuisances." He growled, then dropped them both onto the ground. They choked and gasped for air, but didn't make any escape attempt._

_"AMON! STOP!" Korra managed to find her voice. She was now on the ground, only a few feet away._

_"Or what? Has the Avatar already forgotten that she is now a non-bender, just like everyone else? Go ahead, try to hit me with a little bit of fire." Korra punched the air, aiming for his head. Instead of the enormous burst of flame that she was expecting, nothing happened. Amon chuckled in reply. He grabbed Bolin's collar and raised him to his knees. After placing his hand along the edge of his neck, Amon stabbed Bolin's forehead with his thumb, then released, allowing him to collapse onto the ground. Asami screamed with fury. She jumped to her feet and engaged Amon in combat. Before the fight began, it was over._

_Asami was forced onto her knees, facing Korra. "Now, be a good little equalist like you promised to be and finish her off." Amon directed the command at Korra, whose hands were suddenly weighed down by Kali sticks. But when she looked down, they weren't Kali sticks. They were __**bones**__. The ends were sharpened, so it was possible to kill someone by stabbing them. Without consent, her body began to move towards Asami, whose eyes first widened with shock, then were clouded with disbelief and betrayal._

_Even after several attempts to stop walking or to even just __**talk**__, Korra gave up. Her body stopped in front of Asami, and her right arm began to raise the spike above her head._

_"Bolin and Mako were right. You __**are**__ a monster!" She spat. Korra felt her arm come down and she averted her eyes, refusing to witness what was to come next. Her arms stopped in mid-swing, and the revolting spikes were dropped, turning to ash as soon as they hit the ground._

_"Stop it, Amon!" Korra looked over to where the voice was coming from, and there stood young Noatak and Tarrlok, piles of equalists at their feet._

_Amon's head swiftly turned to face the boys. "Why should I?" He cast Asami aside, then pulled out a concealed dagger. Before she realized what had occurred, she was forced onto her knees while Amon stood behind her. Cold steel stole the previous warmth that was on her neck. The two brothers kept on trying to take control of him with bloodbending, but every attempt failed. Amon cackled with delight, then pressed the knife into one side of her neck. A steady flow of blood resulted._

_"Goodbye, __**Avatar**__." _

With a jolt, Korra sat up in her sleeping bag, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down her face and off of her chin. Knowing that resuming her slumber would just bring more nightmares, she wriggled out of her sleeping bag, used the light from the dying embers to find the ice door, then bent it out of her way. Outside, the ice was illuminated by the full moon high in the sky, giving the landscape a haunting, yet strangely beautiful appearance. A voice next to the doorway startled her, causing the half-awake girl to give a quick cry of alarm.

"Nightmare of Amon?"


	8. Into the Spirit World

**You guys… Seriously, you should've seen how far my ego got boosted by reading all of your nice reviews. It was pretty bad. XD I try to keep a humble attitude while writing, but when I'm told that it's so exciting to see a new update on my story, it's pretty hard to keep my pride from swelling. ^^ **

**To answer your comment on the plates, Visceral, I had actually wanted to have a (not that) short bit about Noatak packing for three people instead of two in chapter 6 (and have some of chapter 6 become 7), but I decided against deviating onto that path because I may have spent a whole on that and it wasn't really all that important. The basic storyline for that was both of the parents had helped him pack before breakfast, then during the meal, Noatak managed to excuse himself early and added extra stuff, such as food, another sleeping bag, plates, etc. After that, he sneaked some food to Korra, then was about to leave when Yakone bumped into her and made Noatak help him try to track her down. Afterwards, Yakone was somewhat eager to send the boys off since he really wanted some "alone time" with his wife. (which made Noatak want to hurl, while Tarrlok didn't even catch on on why his dad wanted them to leave so quickly XD) So he didn't re-check the sleds, confident that the three had gathered and packed the essentials, and sent them on their way. ;) **

**Thanks for your awesome reviews, faves, and follows! :') **

Korra sighed in relief when it was just Noatak who was behind her. "Yeah… How did you know?" She sat down next to him.

"You woke me up because you were talking in your sleep. You kept on telling him to stop."

"Oh… Sorry."

"It's fine. I usually wake up in the middle of the night, anyway." The two gazed at the bright moon together. The power of the full moon caused Korra's skin to itch, willing her to use the power that coursed through her veins. She knew that Noatak was sharing the same feeling as her, but they both ignored it fairly easily. Delicate wisps of fog occasionally escaping the two's mouths as they exhaled, illuminated by the bright pale light. After a few minutes, Noatak spoke up again. "So, what did you mean when you said a few days ago that having an obsession of wanting to destroy the Avatar must run in the family?"

"Huh? Um… nothing. I didn't mean anything." Korra scratched the back of her head.

He stared at her in disbelief. "You have got to be the worst liar ever. Spill it."

Korra sighed. "It's something that happens in the future. You don't want to know."

"What, something with me?"

"No. Frankly, I didn't even know you existed until now. It's… Your brother."

Noatak tensed. "What happens to Tarrlok?"

"I can't tell you what happens in the future!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's like… cheating! You shouldn't know what's going to happen to you until it does!"

"Well, it's not going to happen to me, since this is about my brother. Now tell me what happens!"

"Fine!" Noatak clamped a hand over her mouth, then pointed at the dome, reminding her that Tarrlok was still sleeping.

"Quiet!" He hissed.

"Sorry!" She apologized. After a pause, she added, "Ok, I'll tell you, but you _can't_ tell Tarrlok."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise!" He replied, exasperated.

"Ok, well Tarrlok becomes the representative of the Northern Water Tribe for the council in Republic City."

"How is that a bad thing?"

"Don't interrupt! I'm not done yet. It's not him being a councilman that's bad, it's that he became a power-hungry glory hound. He tricked me onto his task force so I could help him take down Amon, and thanks to that, I would have lost my bending if Amon wanted to take it. Later on, he manipulated the chief of police, Toph's daughter, into taking full responsibility for a pro-bending championship that I was in. Amon attacked, blew up the place, and weakened the police force by destroying several airships and boats. A while after that, we found out that a famous inventor was helping the equalist cause. Since we were led into a trap that compromised many of the chief's policemen, she resigned so she could track them down. The new chief of police that took her place was just Tarrlok's puppet. Since Tarrlok now basically owned the police, he enforced crazy rules on the non-benders, then arrested many of them. Since my friends and I interfered, he arrested them as well, to blackmail me.

Since I couldn't bear just doing nothing while my friends were stuck in prison, I confronted Tarrlok. We had a big battle, but right before I beat him, he bloodbent me, even though the moon wasn't full. I was forced into the back of a truck, then taken up to a secret house far in the mountains. While stuck in my cell there, I meditated and Aang showed me Yakone's trial, and that he took away his bending. As soon as I put two and two together and figured out that Tarrlok was his son, he showed up again. His secret of being a bloodbender was out, so he was going to take me hostage. That's when Amon showed up. I don't know what happened to Tarrlok, but I bet he's sitting in a prison cell somewhere, just like I am."

Noatak's expression was not one of anger, disbelief, or surprise as he sat in thoughtful silence. After a couple minutes, he spoke up. "Even though there's no reason for you to lie, it's hard to truly believe all that you said. Tarrlok, although he's good at screwing up, just doesn't seem to be a manipulative politician. He's a good-spirited kid. Far better than I could ever hope to be…"

"What do you mean?"

"He has a far better conscious than I do. Just to give an example, I actually _enjoy_ controlling animals, he constantly protests against doing such things, saying that it's terrible that we put them through such pain. I just… Can't imagine this Tarrlok that you described. This just makes me think… If someone as nice as my brother becomes that, then what kind of monster do I turn into?"

"Don't say that. You're not a monster."

"Well I'm certainly not the good guy type. Maybe if Yakone decided to not use us for his sick ambitions, my brother and I could've turned out better. That's just wishful thinking, though, since not everyone has a spirit guide that has special powers, such as being able to send that person to the past…" The corners of Noatak's lips twitched upwards slightly, which was his way of smiling.

"You're just going to keep on reminding me that I'm the Avatar, aren't you?" Korra rolled her eyes, but smiled as well.

"Of course." Unconsciously, Noatak draped his arm over her shoulders.

She stiffened, but soon overcame her brief discomfort. Instead of pulling away, she scooted closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder, grateful for the extra warmth.

After a brief moment of silence, the thoughts in Korra's head that were aching to be known finally poured out. "I don't want to go back to my prison cell tomorrow… Back to where I can do nothing but dread the day Amon puts me on display at the end of his war and removes my bending for all to see. When we'll finally have our final battle, where only one person can remain alive. I know it may make me look weak… but the thought of dying and ending the hope for all benders who dare resist Amon is terrifying.

"Even though this place is so alien, it's more like home than any place in Republic City. I know that I'm still stuck in my cell, but I haven't felt this distant from Amon for a long time. I actually feel… safe."

Noatak's eyebrows raised, then returned to a neutral position. "You could stay…"

It took a few moments for Korra to process what he said. "I-I don't know… I guess maybe I could try to hunt down the equalists and stop them before they even become a threat."

Noatak tensed, causing Korra to raise her head and give him a questioning look. "What's so wrong with people expressing their opinions? Yes, Amon and his equalists seem to be pretty radical, but shouldn't everyone be given a fair say in what they believe? Dealing with a revolution by trying to silence it is the worst thing you could do."

"Since when did you become Mr. Politics?"

"I'm not. I just think people should be treated like they're… people."

Korra resumed resting her head on his shoulder. "I suppose that's true… But it's pretty hard to treat people like they're people when they want you dead. And to the staying here part, I don't think I should, Noatak. If I stayed, it would be so I could stop the equalists. But since it wouldn't be-" Korra was cut off by Noatak sharply pressing his lips against hers. His mouth enveloped hers as their hot breath mingled and mixed. Korra gave a short yelp due her initial shock, but soon deepened the kiss. As their heads slowly pulled back, Noatak nipped gently at her lip. A spark of realization alerted Korra. _Wait… what the- Holy shit… I just kissed Noatak! Why did I just kiss Noatak? Ugh, stupid hormones!_

She jerked her head away and stood abruptly, heat clawing up at her face. "Uh… This never happened. Agreed?" Noatak nodded in return, ignoring the part of him that wanted so badly to disagree. Korra bent the ice door out her way, the walked briskly into the dome, still blushing furiously.

Once Korra was gone, Noatak groaned and facepalmed, shaking his head as he mentally berating himself. _Why did I even __**do**__ that? As soon as I get on Korra's good side, I just go ahead and screw things up! Ugh, stupid hormones! _After waiting a few minutes, he too entered the dome. The steady, deep breathing that came from Korra's bag told him that she was already asleep, or at least acting like she was so he wouldn't bother her. After wriggling into his bag, sleep eventually found him as well.

By the time Korra and Tarrlok began to stir, Noatak had already packed everything except for the two's sleeping bags. A breakfast of seal jerky had been pulled out, and a small fire crackled in the pit. Korra sleepily crawled out of the bag and rolled it up tight. Tarrlok soon yawned himself awake and did the same.

"Morning." She yawned to Noatak, who only nodded in reply as he scowled into the fire. _I see his grumpy self has returned._ She tossed her bag into one of the sleds, then grabbed a few strips of jerky and gnawed hungrily on them. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as we can." He replied bluntly.

"I guess it's bad mood day… again." Tarrlok muttered.

After Korra finished her meal, she changed Noatak's bandages silently. Once they were all packed, she crumbled the earth dome and cast the fragments aside. The three rebuilt the ice board and took off, not saying a single word as long hours passed. Even the occasional bathroom, meal, and bandage changing breaks were done in silence. The barriers Noatak had once lowered were now put back up and as thick as ever.

By late evening, the had arrived at the main village. Korra had heard several tales of its elegance, but the sight she beheld caused her to forget how to breathe. _It's like a dream…_ The entire village was carved out of ice, each building complete with an ornate design. The main roads were waterways filled with icy clear water. There was an occasional boat drifting lazily through the water, propelled by a bender. Otherwise, the only mode of transportation was the thick icy bridge at the end of each block, complete with a carving of the water tribe insignia. Blue orbs of light dotted the area, distanced so that no part of the ice was touched by shadow. Due to the reflection that the ice gave off, it appeared that the entire village was _glowing_.

"Come on, I want to get all the stuff we need before nightfall." Noatak grabbed his bag of money, walked over to an area close by the cliff that dropped off to the city, then removed a few inches of ice, revealing a secret stairway. The two quickly followed him down the stairs, watching their step on the slippery steps. At the bottom, They walked out of an open doorway, greeted by two guards that blocked their way. Noatak held up a shiny badge and the two guards nodded in response, then allowed the group to pass.

"First thing's first. We're going to send you back home." Noatak took the lead as they started to walk through the village.

"By home, you mean a prison cell. For some strange reason, waking up in a dark metal cell and having to worry about getting my bending removed doesn't seem very appealing." Korra grumbled. Tarrlok giggled.

"Well, you're not going to stick around here and keep on getting on my nerves, that's for sure." Noatak growled in reply.

"Ouch…"

"Don't take it personally, Korra." Tarrlok piped up. "Noatak just doesn't want to admit that he's sad you're leaving!" The way he acted was so similar to Ikki, Korra couldn't help but crack up. Noatak, thinking that her laughter was directed at him, blushed deeply.

He stopped and straightened, seeming to grow an extra inch instantaneously. His tone overflowed with hostility. "What? No, I'm not!"

Tarrlok grinned mischievously, revealing a childish side that was rarely shown. "Yes you dooo!"

Noatak rolled his eyes. "Knock it off, Tarrlok."

They arrived at a small circular door made of wood. Noatak quickly swiveled his head around to be sure that there were no other people around, then opened the door and crawled in, quickly followed by Korra and Tarrlok.

There was a small oasis filled with lush vegetation. Within it, there was a small pool that contained the ocean and moon spirits, Tui and La. Behind it, a waterfall cascaded from the tall ice that surrounded the area, basking the oasis in a delicate mist. The three stared wide-eyed at the spectacle as they crossed one of the delicate arched bridges, surprised by the sudden warmth they encountered.

"It's so warm here! And there's grass, sweet, beautiful grass!" Korra tore off her overcoat and fell onto her back, embracing the soft, green blades that embraced her. Noatak cleared his throat impatiently.

"Are you about done?"

Korra stood up, slightly embarrassed. "Well… I guess this is goodbye." She said solemnly.

Tarrlok smiled. "Not necessarily _goodbye_. More like a 'see you later'. We'll still be alive, so maybe we'll see you sometime in the future."

"Of course!" Korra replied, trying to match his cheeriness. "But, you'll be all grown up, though… Maybe sometime after I go kick the snot out of Amon, we could find a way to visit with each other."

Tarrlok hugged Korra tightly, then released her. His brows furrowed with fierce determination. "Go beat him up, Korra."

He stood back, and Noatak took his place.

"Well, I guess I might see you sometime in the future." Since he appeared to be unsure of what to do next, Korra hugged him. In her ear, he whispered. "Thank you for telling me about what happens… I'm going to do what I can to keep my brother from going down that road."

Korra released him, then nodded once. After that, she announced, "Well, I best be going now. Hopefully this'll work." She sat down in a meditative position and glanced at the two koi fish before she closed her eyes. The image of the fish circled through her mind. Slowly, they grew larger and closer to each other, soon morphing into the symbol for yin and yang. A sudden lightness overcame her and she heard Tarrlok gasp.

"What?" She opened her eyes and looked at the two boys. They were staring at the ground where she sat. She looked down, noticing for the first time that her body was glowing blue, just like the ice in the main village. Uneasy by this sudden change, she stood up, examining her body.

"She's gone…" He whispered.

"Well, what else were you expecting?" Noatak replied. "Come on, we have better things to do than stare at an empty patch of grass." The Spirit Oasis began to fade, soon replaced by a bright sunny field that was covered with enormous, exotic trees and bushes. Instead of the two koi fish in front of her, there sat Avatar Aang, meditating peacefully in the center of a large ray of light.

"Hello, Korra."

**I feel like these chapters aren't really… complete. The story line has been filled, but it doesn't really seem entirely IC to me… *shrugs* I guess I kinda wish I had a Beta Reader. X-X **

**Anyway, I have two more chapters finished, but I don't know when I'll publish them, because I'm not really all that happy with these few. ._. I may just rewrite 9&10, which could take awhile.**

**Brb, getting rid of my pessimistic attitude. X**


	9. A Method for Peace

**Hiya! Sorry for the wait! (and sorry for the pessimistic attitude in last chapter. x_x) I've kept on debating with myself if this chapter was ready enough to be published and making minor edits while reading and re-reading it. I'm not really sure if I captured adult Aang that well, since I may have made him a bit too serious. Since we hardly see him at all in the first season (sadly! D':), it's hard to get a good idea of how he'd act. Anyway, don't mind my mindless rabblings that I put in my AN's. XD**

**Reviews are always appreciated! :D  
**

"Aang…"

His lids slowly opened, soft gray eyes warmly embracing her. "Come, sit." She walked over and sat down a few feet in front of him. Warm sunlight illuminated her cocoa colored skin as the cool, moist grass cushioned her. The sweet smell of fresh flowers beginning to blossom wafted into her nostrils, calming her racing heart.

"What happened? How was I sent to the past? _Why_ was I sent to the past? "

Aang smiled. "To answer your first question, you were first in the spirit world for a few moments before being sent to the past. Here, time is nothing. The moment the human world began and the moment it ended are all one. Here, the illusion of the events of the world being separated by hours, days, and years is gone. Sending you back in time to be around young Noatak and Tarrlok was a simple task, though many of the spirits have frowned upon my actions."

"But… How did I appear as a human to them, instead of just being a spirit?"

"That was a very difficult and complex task that required me combining the strength of many of my spirit allies to perform such a thing. Though you may want to know the full detail of the how, it is not essential to what you need to know during this journey to the Spirit World. No, what needs to be discussed is the _why_."

"Ok… Why?"

"The duties of the Avatar are simple: maintain peace and balance in the world. Unfortunately, many of the past Avatars have interpreted this statement to mean that it's required to actually _kill _the people who threaten the balance.

"While I was just a child, I was faced with a task that I dreaded-defeating Fire Lord Ozai before the world was consumed by his unrelenting flame. When I asked a few of my past lives for advice, they all told me that I had to kill him in order to end this war.

"I had a difficult time accepting this, but right as I was going to accept this fate, I came across a lionturtle, one of the most ancient and wisest creatures in the human world. He showed me that it is possible to stop your adversaries, but still show mercy to them at the same time. This is what I'm trying to tell you, Korra. Even though _bashing_ in the heads of all who oppose you is very tempting when you are the Avatar, it is not the right thing to do. Instead, it is time to show mercy and restraint."

Korra frowned, not being able to help but feel as if her past life was condemning her. "Aang, thanks for your advice, but no thanks. It's better to not risk having your enemies come back and try to kill you, or have _children_ and try to make _them_ kill you. Now, why did you send me back in time, other than to make me wander around in the wilderness and almost get killed multiple times?"

"Because I needed you to see how there is good in Yakone's sons."

"Why? It's a bit late to tell me that Tarrlok is actually a nice guy who wasn't always so cunning."

"I didn't send you back to see Tarrlok. I sent you back to see Noatak."

"Why? I've never even met Noatak until now!" Korra had to restrain herself from yelling, her impatience nearly unbearable. Aang raised a brow, but continued to speak.

"You actually have, but under a different name. How familiar are you with a man who calls himself Amon?"

The first thing Korra noticed was that she was sprinting away from Aang as far as she could, the second was that Aang wasn't chasing after her, and the third was that an enormous river was quickly approaching. She continued to run, trying to escape what Aang had just told her. _Why would he say that? Is this his last resort to get me to not hate Amon? _

The leaves and grass _hissed_ at her as heavy footsteps trampled them. She ignored their threats and quickened her pace, shoving aside the fruit and flower laden branches that clawed at her bare arms. Once at the river, she hesitated, unsure if it were safe to dive in. The swift, murky water seemed to growl a warning. While she waited for a sign, her thoughts finally caught up with her actions. _What are you doing, Korra? Once you're far away from Aang, where are you going to go?_ She found herself walking back to Aang. He was still sitting peacefully in the clearing, unsurprised that she had returned so soon. She sat down, still simmering.

"Are you ready to stay put?" His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Yes…" Korra huffed in reply. "Why did you do all of this? Why didn't you just tell me what I needed to do?"

"Because I knew there was no other way to show you that taking your enemy's life is not the optimum route."

"Well, I guess you wasted my time, because I'm going to take Amon's life and avenge all of the benders who suffered because of him."

"Do you honestly think so?"

Memories of her journey here flashed through her mind. Fighting with Noatak over the smallest things, defeating the saber-toothed moosewolves, talking together under the full moon, the kiss that she quickly broke… Even though she hated to admit it, he was a pretty damn good kisser. _I wonder if he still's that goo-Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is wrong with your mind, Korra? You're thinking about kissing a guy as old as Dad!_ Korra managed to pull her attention back to the question and answered, "…No, I guess not."

Aang smiled. "You're time was not wasted, then."

"So, what do I do now? Even though I won't kill Amon, I still have to stop him and his equalists before my bending is removed!"

"There is another way. Before the Avatar, it was not the elements that were bended, but the energy within ourself. To stop Amon and end the drive to remove bending from the world, you must expose his ability to bend, then remove it from him."

"But… How?"

Aang stood, and Korra followed. He placed one thumb on her chest, the other on her forehead. Pure light momentarily overtook her vision, flooding her senses with warmth as her heart seemed to soar. As soon as the feeling came, it disappointingly left. "To bend the energy within Amon, you must first be sure that yours is unbendable, otherwise you will be corrupted and destroyed. Wait for the opportune moment. It is coming soon."

When her eyes opened, she found herself back in the cell. The sweet, heavy fragrance of the Spirit World vanished as the familiar, but unwelcome, must filled her nostrils once more. Her spine, aching from being stuck in her meditative position for an unknown amount of time, cracked and popped in several places eagerly as she stretched. "Ahh, home sweet home." She grumbled sarcastically, reaching for the cold plate of various shellfish. _Well now I know why Amon keeps on giving me water tribe food. _She grabbed the cup of water and eagerly gulped down the liquid, soothing her parched throat.

"They always say that home is where the heart is." Korra's head shot up to the corner of the cell that was to her right, trying not to spew out her mouthful of water in surprise. As soon as her eyes adjusting to the poor lighting, the darkly garbed Amon was revealed, his pale mask contrasting sharply with the rest of his dark toned apparel. He leaned calmly against the wall with his arms folded, clearly no longer intimidated by the Avatar. _Cocky bastard..._

Korra quickly regained her composure and gulped down the water in her mouth. "Tell me, how much do you miss _your_ home up in the Northern Water Tribe, _Noatak_?"

Amon tensed, but quickly covered over his initial reaction by moving all of his weight onto his feet as he stood up. "I believe you have me mistaken for someone else."

She smirked. "You know, you could've had a good career as a fortune teller instead of being the leader of a terrorist movement. You did a pretty good job at foretelling that you would become _a mon_ster."

Amon continued to stay put. Although she couldn't see a thing underneath the eye slits, Korra could feel his death glare boring into her. Shoving down the knot in her throat, she continued to act unafraid.

"So, tell me, _Noatak_, what was it like to attack your own brother and remove his bending? You know, when I confronted Tarrlok and told him that he was just like you, he went over the deep end because he _loathed_ being compared to you. Guess you didn't succeed in stopping him from-" Korra was cut off as Amon swiftly crossed the short distance between them and struck her across the face.

Blood slowly welled up and began to trickle from her split upper lip, filling her parted mouth with its metallic taste. The left side of her face, which was originally numb from the blow, began to throb, the tempo matching the rapid heartbeat that echoed in her ears. Still in shock, her hand slowly rose up and gently pressed against the injury. Pain stabbed at her face as her fingers only gently brushed against the tender area.

"You need to learn your place, _Avatar_." He stormed out of the cell, slamming the door hard enough for the ground below her feet to shake.

Korra gaped for a few moments, then slowly changed her expression to a self-satisfied smirk as she began to eat her meal. Even though she had an impressive bruise forming on her face due to Amon punching her, she had won. By his reaction, he had revealed his identity. Tomorrow, he would be forced to admit this


	10. Obedience

**Hiii! :D Sorry for the long wait... yet again. I kept on editing and re-editing this chapter, but still not fully satisfied with it... Meh. Anyway, here's the next chapter, so enjoy! :3**

The sudden firm grasp around Korra's wrists jolted her awake.

"Get up." Amon hissed in her ear. His hot breath blew against the side of her face, instantly warming her frigid skin.

Korra grumbled in return, shifting herself into a more comfortable position as she succumbed to her sleepy haze. "Go to hell, you two-faced bastard." The words spilled out of her mouth before her mind could do anything halt her tongue. _Shit… This is just a dream, right?_ The iron grip of Amon tightened to the point that it felt like her bones were going to shatter if he squeezed any harder. He roughly pulled her up to her feet.

"I see you chose to ignore my warning."

"And I see you ignored the fact that although it was pretty fragile, we once did have a friendship, _Noatak_." Amon ignored her retort as he attached thick metal cuffs to her wrists and ankles. After he pulled out two strips of cloth, she was blindfolded with one and gagged with the other.

"A photo shoot has been organized to help us convince the world that our demands are to not be taken lightly. Punctuality is required."

He shoved Korra onto the elevator, who fell to her knees, thanks to her shackles allowed her legs to move only inches at a time. Her protest was lost in the thick cloth wrapped tightly around her mouth as her skin quickly grew hot with both fury and embarrassment.

Once they began to rise, Amon leaned down and hissed into Korra's ear, "If you dare attack any person present in the room or even bring up _Noatak_ during the photo shoot, you will sorely regret it."

Korra scowled in reply. An idea shot through her mind, causing her to smirk. _Of course, I won't have to attack anyone or bring up your true identity to cause trouble…_ The elevator soon arrived at the level they needed to be on, and Amon guided her down a long, twisting hall. After being forced to spin around several times to confuse her sense of direction, she was pushed into a room. Her blindfold and gag were promptly removed.

Every single person, save for her and Amon, was garbed in equalist uniform. She was directed to an 'x' on the floor and ordered to stand directly above it. One of the equalist brought her that day's paper and shoved it into her hands. Her fingers slowly slid over the warm, textured surface as she flipped it around to look at it. After glancing at the front page, she paled. The headline read _"Former Councilman Tarrlok still yet to be found after Town Hall incident; still remains primary suspect in Avatar abduction". _If the date was current, this meant that it had been almost two weeks since she had confronted Tarrlok. _Why haven't they found the equalist prisons yet?_

"Hold the newspaper in front of your chest with the date facing the camera." The photographer barked. Korra followed his order at an agonizingly slow pace. After she slid the tips of her fingers over the rough surface once more, she asked the clearly irritated equalist photographer a question.

"You know, from all of this dust that's coming off of the paper, I really need a tissue to blow my nose with."

"We don't have any. Tough it out." The equalist growled

"Fine, but I might just have to snee… ahh-ahh-AHH-CHOO!" Flame burst out of her mouth, instantly incinerating the paper she held. She rubbed her nose with false embarrassment. "Sorry… Sneezing can be _so_ annoying when you're a _firebender_."

Unfortunately, the equalists were prepared for an event like this, so they quickly handed another paper to Korra. She "accidentally" sneezed onto the paper once again, turning the water droplets that were emitted to shards of ice moments before they struck the paper. It quickly gained a close resemblance to a cheese grater. "I'm telling you guys, this dust is really irritating my nose. I need a tissue."

"Does anyone have a handkerchief for the Avatar?" Amon's smooth voice displayed hints of aggravation. The equalists quickly searched for anything that could be used as a suitable tissue, instantly detecting their leader's anger. One of the equalists handed her a white kerchief with green and gold embroidery along the edges. She blew her nose, trying to make the kerchief as nasty as possible, then handed it back to her, satisfied by the obvious disgust displayed from the equalist.

"Thanks! I feel much better now. You guys have got to be the nicest equalists I've met, especially since you're not trying to take me out by _poking_ me to death." She inwardly smirked at how furious they became in reply.

After being handed another paper, Korra held it up the way the photographer instructed her. Instead of giving the disheartened expression that was expected, she looked straight into the camera and gave a big ear-to-ear grin. Several awkward moments of the photographer holding up the camera but not taking any pictures passed, and he finally coughed and voiced what was bothering him.

"Could you not act so… happy?"

"What? Why not?" Korra trilled innocently.

The photographer was left sputtering as he tried to come up with a response. After a few moments, Amon growled, "It's not appropriate for hostage pictures. Do what he asks you to do, otherwise I may just have to _discuss_ your poor behavior with you later on."

Korra forced a sulky glare onto her face, despite the want to burst out laughing due to the discomfort that was building up. The equalist, now pleased with her forced performance, began to take several photos of her. After a few minutes, another came and took the paper from her. He then stood a few feet away, allowing the paper to still be a part of the photos. "Maintain a flame above both of your hands." He instructed. Korra nodded, then held her hands out in front of her, igniting the air above them. She waited for the perfect moment when the photographer was about to take her picture. As his finger slowly pressed down the button on his camera, Korra's hands quickly transformed as they both flipped the bird, flames dancing above her middle fingers. It was too late for him to stop, and the camera flashed as the picture of her was taken. Everyone in the room stood in dumbfounded shock as they stared at what she had done.

Amon cleared his throat. "If you cause any more trouble, _Avatar_, I will personally see to it that you'll _greatly_ regret it once you have returned to your cell."

After that threat, Korra obediently followed every order the photographer gave. Although it was extremely tempting to deviate from what she was instructed to do, the Avatar was not extremely keen on finding out what types of torture Amon would put her through. The final words Aang spoke to her rang through her mind. _If I want to be able to stand up to Amon when the time comes, I must have as much strength as I possibly can._

After what seemed to be hours of getting photo after photo of her taken. Amon blindfolded her once more and led her down several different halls. Once it was removed, she blinked until her blurred vision returned to normal. They were now alone in a recording room. There was nothing but a table, two chairs on either side, and a microphone that sat next to a lone lamp. The glassy green shade around it caused the room to bask in an unnatural glow as every hue was affected by the bright emerald light.

"The rules for the photo shoot still apply here. This is not a live recording, so anything you say that is out of line will do nothing but earn the retribution it deserves. Understand?"

Korra nodded slowly, then pulled out and sat in the chair she was appointed to. Amon took his seat on the other and flipped a switch that was located on his side of the desk. The clicking sound of film that sounded faintly from inside the desk revealed that they were now recording. Amon flipped on another switch, but nothing disclosed what that one was for.

"Greetings, citizens of Republic City. This is Amon. Unlike my previous broadcasts, I am not alone this time." He motioned for her to speak.

Korra swallowed the thick lump that was forming in her throat. "He-Hello."

"Don't be impolite. Tell our listeners who you are."

"This is your Avatar, Korra."

"You may be inclined to think that I am lying to you, since it is thought that the former councilman _and_ former bender Tarrlok still has the Avatar. That was once true, but now Tarrlok and the Avatar will be detained in the equalist's prison indefinitely. Many of you may not believe this, so I will gladly give evidence that will eradicate all shrouds of doubt.

"As I speak, photos of the Avatar that were taken only minutes ago are being processed and will be printed in tomorrow's paper. As you will soon see, Korra still has all of her bending, and it will stay that way as long as she and the residents of Republic City are _obedient_. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee the Avatar's safety. Even though the friends of the Avatar will never be able to find her if they tried, I _will not hesitate_ to bring harm to her if you meddling _nuisances_ invade my prison. Isn't that right, Korra?" Amon had his hand placed over Korra's. Since there were a few moments of silence, he gave a sharp squeeze that took all of Korra's strength to not display the pain she felt shooting up her arm.

"...Yes." The tight grip was released. She glared daggers at Amon, her icy eyes staring right into his. He met her gaze for a few seconds, then focused his attention on something behind her and nodded. An unseen person suddenly pulled the gag over her mouth and hauled her out of the room, ignoring her legs that constantly kicked at him in protest. Once out of the room, Amon continued, his voice too low for her to pick up any word that he said.

A blindfold was roughly shoved over her eyes and she was dragged all the way back to the elevator. Since the equalist who was with her apparently didn't have the keys required for operating the elevator, they waited for the near silent footsteps of Amon to approach. The other man was dismissed and they began to descend back to her cell. The scent of smoked fish wafted into her nose, causing her belly to growl loudly. Korra's skin flushed with embarrassment as she could practically _feel_ Amon smirking at her due to the noise that came from her digestive tract.

Once they were at the bottom of the lift, Amon nudged her into the cell, closed and locked the door, then removed all of her restraints and placed the plate of food in front of her. He sat down against the wall a few feet to her right, making himself comfortable.

Still fuming from being dragged out of the recording room so she wouldn't hear the last part of Amon's speech, Korra glared at the fish, refusing to take a single bite out of it.

"So you've decided to become too proud to accept any food now. I suppose I was wrong when I assumed you weren't as foolish as other prisoners."

Korra said nothing as she stared at the steaming meal. It was another one of the Water Tribe style dishes, something that she was now grew to loathe. "Why do you keep on bringing me just this style of food, which is an obvious attempt at trying to hint at who you are, when you won't even admit that I've now guessed your correct identity?!"

"The only reason why I gave you this type of food is because I assumed it was your favorite kind, since you are from the Southern Water Tribe. It was to show you that you will be treated fairly by the equalists while in prison, _Korra. _This is what our cause is all about, after all."

"What? Beating up benders, throwing them in prison, and then forcing them to eat octosquid?"

"Amusing, but no. The equalist agenda, though viewed tyrannical by many _benders_, is meant to end the oppression that the majority of humans on this planet face. Our goal is to have it so the people are actually treated like they're… people.


End file.
